Word Study
fluke
CIDE DICTIONARY
fluke, n. [Cf. AS. fl a kind of flatfish, Icel. fl a kind of halibut.].
- The European flounder. See Flounder. [1913 Webster]
- Any American flounder of the genus
Paralichthys , especiallyParalicthys dentatus , found in the Atlantic Ocean and in adjacent bays. [PJC] - A parasitic trematode worm of several species, having a flat, lanceolate body and two suckers. Two species (
Fasciola hepatica andDistoma lanceolatum ) are found in the livers of sheep, and produce the disease calledrot . [1913 Webster]
fluke, n. [Cf. LG. flunk, flunka wing, the palm of an anchor; perh. akin to E. fly.].
- The part of an anchor which fastens in the ground; a flook. See Anchor. [1913 Webster]
- One of the lobes of a whale's tail, so called from the resemblance to the fluke of an anchor. [1913 Webster]
- An instrument for cleaning out a hole drilled in stone for blasting. [1913 Webster]
- An accidental and favorable stroke at billiards (called a scratch in the United States); hence, any accidental or unexpected advantage; as, he won by a fluke. A. Trollope. [1913 Webster]
fluke, v. t. & i.
To get or score by a fluke; as, to fluke a play in billiards. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
fluke, n. & v.
--n.
1 a lucky accident (won by a fluke).
2 a chance breeze.
--v.tr. achieve by a fluke (fluked that shot).
--n.
1 a lucky accident (won by a fluke).
2 a chance breeze.
--v.tr. achieve by a fluke (fluked that shot).
fluke, n.
1 any parasitic flatworm of the class Digenea or Monogenea, including liver flukes and blood flukes.
2 a flat-fish, esp. a flounder.
1 any parasitic flatworm of the class Digenea or Monogenea, including liver flukes and blood flukes.
2 a flat-fish, esp. a flounder.
fluke, n.
1 Naut. a broad triangular plate on the arm of an anchor.
2 the barbed head of a lance, harpoon, etc.
3 Zool. either of the lobes of a whale's tail.
1 Naut. a broad triangular plate on the arm of an anchor.
2 the barbed head of a lance, harpoon, etc.
3 Zool. either of the lobes of a whale's tail.
Etymology
16th c.: perh. f. FLUKE(2)
THESAURUS
fluke
Chilopoda, Chordata, Echiuroidea, Ectoprocta, Entoprocta, Monoplacophora, Nemertinea, Phoronidea, accident, adventure, blessing, break, casualty, chance hit, contingency, contingent, fortuity, freak accident, hap, happening, happenstance, hazard, long odds, long shot, lucky break, lucky shot, lucky strike, run of luck, serendipity, streak of luck, stroke of luck, windfallROGET THESAURUS
fluke
Chance
N chance, lot, fate, luck, good luck, mascot, speculation, venture, stake, game of chance, mere shot, random shot, blind bargain, leap in the dark, pig in a poke, fluke, potluck, faro bank, flyer, limit, uncertainty, uncertainty principle, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, drawing lots, sortilegy, sortition, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, rouge et noir, hazard, ante, chuck-a-luck, crack-loo, craps, faro, roulette, pitch and toss, chuck, farthing, cup tossing, heads or tails cross and pile, poker-dice, wager, bet, betting, gambling, the turf, gaming house, gambling house, betting house, bucket shop, gambling joint, totalizator, totalizer, hell, betting ring, dice, dice box, gambler, gamester, man of the turf, adventurer, dicer, fortuitous, unintentional, unintended, accidental, not meant, undesigned, purposed, unpremeditated, unforeseen, uncontemplated, never thought of, random, indiscriminate, promiscuous, undirected, aimless, driftless, designless, purposeless, causeless, without purpose, possible, unforeseeable, unpredictable, chancy, risky, speculative, dicey, randomly, by chance, fortuitously, unpredictably, unforeseeably, casually, unintentionally, unwittingly, en passant, by the way, incidentally, as it may happen, at random, at a venture, at haphazard, acierta errando, dextro tempore, fearful concatenation of circumstances, fortuitous combination of circumstances, le jeu est le fils d'avarice et le pere du desespo, the happy combination of fortuitous circumstances, the fortuitous or casual concourse of atoms, God does not play dice with the universe, chance, indetermination, accident, fortune, hazard, hap, haphazard, chance medley, random, luck, raccroc, casualty, contingence, adventure, hit, fate, equal chance, lottery, tombola, toss up, turn of the table, turn of the cards, hazard of the die, chapter of accidents, fickle finger of fate, cast of the dice, throw of the dice, heads or tails, flip of a coin, wheel of Fortune, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, probability, possibility, odds, long odds, run of luck, accidentalness, main chance, odds on, favorable odds, contingency, dependence (uncertainty), situation (circumstance), statistics, theory of Probabilities, theory of Chances, bookmaking, assurance, speculation, gaming, casual, fortuitous, accidental, adventitious, causeless, incidental, contingent, uncaused, undetermined, indeterminate, random, statistical, possible, unintentional, by chance, accidentally, by accident, casually, perchance, for aught one knows, as good would have it, as bad would have it, as luck would have it, as ill-luck would have it, as chance would have it, as it may be, as it may chance, as it may turn up, as it may happen, as the case may be, grasps the skirts of happy chance, the accident of an accident, There but for the grace of God go I.Angularity
N angularity, angularness, aduncity, angle, cusp, bend, fold, notch, fork, bifurcation, elbow, knee, knuckle, ankle, groin, crotch, crutch, crane, fluke, scythe, sickle, zigzag, kimbo, akimbo, corner, nook, recess, niche, oriel, coign, right angle, obliquity, angle of 45 degrees, miter, acute angle, obtuse angle, salient angle, reentering angle, spherical angle, angular measurement, angular elevation, angular distance, angular velocity, trigonometry, goniometry, altimetry, clinometer, graphometer, goniometer, theodolite, sextant, quadrant, dichotomy, triangle, trigon, wedge, rectangle, square, lozenge, diamond, rhomb, rhombus, quadrangle, quadrilateral, parallelogram, quadrature, polygon, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, oxygon, decagon, pyramid, cone, Platonic bodies, cube, rhomboid, tetrahedron, pentahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron, eicosahedron, prism, pyramid, parallelopiped, curb roof, gambrel roof, mansard roof, angular, bent, crooked, aduncous, uncinated, aquiline, jagged, serrated, falciform, falcated, furcated, forked, bifurcate, zigzag, furcular, hooked, dovetailed, knock kneed, crinkled, akimbo, kimbo, geniculated, oblique, fusiform, wedge-shaped, cuneiform, cuneate, multangular, oxygonal, triangular, trigonal, trilateral, quadrangular, quadrilateral, foursquare, rectangular, square, multilateral, polygonal, cubical, rhomboid, rhomboidal, pyramidal.For further exploring for "fluke" in Webster Dictionary Online
