flask

Meaning

Noun

1. A narrow-necked vessel of metal or glass, used for various purposes; as of sheet metal, to carry gunpowder in; or of wrought iron, to contain quicksilver; or of glass, to heat water in, etc.
2. A container used to discreetly carry a small amount of a hard alcoholic beverage; a pocket flask.
3. Laboratory glassware used to hold larger volumes than test tubes, normally having a narrow mouth of a standard size which widens to a flat or spherical base.
4. A container for holding a casting mold, especially for sand casting molds.
5. A bed in a gun carriage.
6. A nuclear flask, a large, secure lead-lined container for the transport of nuclear material.
7. (Newfoundland) A small bottle of liquor.

Verb

To invest a denture in a flask so as to produce a sectional mold.

Synonyms

bottle

canteen

vial

water bottle

retort

jar

🫙

vase

flaskful

small bottle

phial

bulb

💡

flagon

jug

mug

thermos bottle

vacuum bottle

vacuum flask

bottleful

water-bottle

gourd-bottle

amphora

🏺

Micky

ampoule

ampule

beaker

bijou

bomb

💣

cask

cruet

dipper

flacon

gourd

hermit crab

Translations

Kolben

frasco

matraz

fiole

flacon

frasco

παγούρι

gourde

matras

Fläschchen

φλασκί

flasque

ballon

fiasco

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈflɑːsk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: flask

Inherited from Old English: flasce

Cognate with Dutch: fles

Cognate with German: Flasche

Cognate with Danish: flaske

Cognate with Lithuanian: plókščias

Cognate with Czech: ploský

Cognate with Albanian: flashkët

Cognate with Old Spanish: flasco

In summary

From Middle English flask, flaske (“case, cask, keg”), from Old English flasce, flaxe (“bottle, flask”) and Medieval Latin flascō (“bottle”); from Frankish *flaskā; whence also Dutch fles; both from Proto-Germanic *flaskǭ (“braid-covered bottle, wicker-enclosed jug”) (whence also German Low German Flaske, Fless, German Flasche, Danish flaske), from Proto-Indo-European *ploḱ-skō (“flat”) (whence also Lithuanian plókščias, Czech ploský, Albanian flashkët), or from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to weave”). Doublet of fiasco, flacon, and flagon.
The sense “laboratory glassware” is from Italian fiasco, and the sense “container for holding a casting mold” is from Middle French flasque (“powder flask”), itself from Old Spanish flasco, frasco, both from Late Latin above.