flake (out) v.
1. to collapse, from exhaustion, or an excess of drink or drugs; thus flaked out adj.
Sub-Lieutenant 39: During the week’s [P.T.] course, two of them broke their ankles; the others usually flaked out from exhaustion before the end of the afternoon . | ||
My Friend Judas (1963) 125: I must have flaked out for a few hours, because the next thing I knew was Jimmy shaking me by the shoulders. | ||
Aus. Women’s Wkly 3 Nov. 10/4: Now that Surfie talk is flaking. | ||
Barry McKenzie [comic strip] in Complete Barry McKenzie (1988) 113: I bunged her an injection and she flaked on me. | ||
The Same Old Grind 131: ‘Always flaking out somewhere. Good for nothing, lousy, crippled-up — ’. | ||
(con. 1941) Gunner 213: She did take your pants off after you’d flaked out again. | ||
(con. 1960s) Spend, Spend, Spend (1978) 154: I can remember one night her flaking out on the couch. | ||
Confessions of Proinsias O’Toole 92: Then she wallops into the hard stuff here an’ flakes out. She’s in bed. | ||
Runnin’ Down Some Lines 170: I was out before I took three, four hits. [...] I jus’ close’ my eyes, next thang I know, I done flaked! | ||
Up the Cross 90: Mick the Muso had flaked out on the toilet seat. | (con. 1959)||
Aussie Bull 23: [T]he Pom staggered down to the beach, flopped on his back beside his wife and ‘flaked’. | ||
Swimming-Pool Library (1998) 223: I did a few ferocious exercises and then flaked out. | ||
How to Kiss a Crocodile 89: I turned the key in the door and flaked as soon as I put my head down. | ||
Sucked In 193: We waited until he flaked again, then dragged him into a bedroom and dumped him on the bed. | ||
Life 342: This is powerful weed. Funnily enough, I never flaked out. | ||
me-stepmums-too-fuckin-hot-mate at www.fakku.net 🌐 I’m gonna flake out. | ||
Glorious Heresies 4: [M]en of any age were entitled to flake around the place giving digs to anyone who looked like they might slight them. |
2. (US) to recline or lie down, to sleep.
in Life 17 July 20: Carrier crew men ‘flake out’ on hard deck while planes are far away fighting great air battles [HDAS]. | ||
Onionhead (1958) 171: ‘Flake out till I come back’. | ||
Gone Fishin’ 128: Flake out there on the axminster, an’ throw that Wagga rug over you. | ||
Barry McKenzie [comic strip] in Complete Barry McKenzie (1988) 42: Do youse reckon I could flake at your dump for the arvo? | ||
Lowspeak. | ||
Indep. Rev. 9 Oct. 20: I get home and flake out, completely exhausted. | ||
Indep. Rev. 18 Mar. 20: When I get home, I flake out on the sofa. |
3. to go mad; to act eccentrically.
(con. 1943) Big War 167: What did they think held men together [...] kept them from flaking out or cracking up. | ||
(con. 1950s) Age of Rock 2 (1970) 100: You only got hung up when somebody flaked out on you. | ‘The Fifties’ in Eisen||
(con. Vietnam War) Everything We Had 104: The next thing I heard, he was in a psycho ward. He had just sort of flaked out and gone over the edge. | ||
Slayer Sl. (2003) 176: You don’t understand I’m not mad. He totally flaked on me. | ‘Prophecy Girl’ 2 June episode of TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer in Adams||
Dirty Words [ebook] The guy tensed, but didn’t flake. | ‘Roses at His Feet’ in
4. (US) to die.
Bug Jack Barron 15: Give him a contract for a freeze when he flakes out. |
5. (US campus) to astound.
oral testimony in HDAS I. |
6. to fail, to let down.
My War (2006) 23: The Army even pays for you to spend the night at a hotel [...] to make sure your ass doesn’t flake. |
7. (US campus) to fail to keep an appointment or other commitment; usu. as flake out on.
Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In 18: He can get to the drive-in next week, even if Gus flakes out on him again. | ||
Sl. U. | ||
Street Talk 2 17: To flake – to be unreliable. He was supposed to pick me up at the airport but he flaked. | ||
Campus Sl. Fall. | ||
UNC-CH Campus Sl. Spring 2014. | (ed.)
In phrases
(US black) passed out, unconscious, esp. as a result of drug-taking.
Runnin’ Down Some Lines 185: Somebody be on flake, like people gonna creep on dem. |