I. ˈfläk noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English flocc; akin to Middle Low German vlocke crowd, herd of sheep, Old Norse flokkr crowd, band, troop
1.
a. archaic : a band or company of people
b. flocks plural : great numbers : multitudes
the flocks of foreign students
found flocks of witnesses willing to testify
2.
a. : a natural assemblage of animals (as of gregarious birds or mammals)
a flock of wild geese
b. : a company of domestic mammals (as sheep or goats) herded together
c. flocks plural : holdings (as of a person) in sheep and goats — sometimes contrasted with herds
immensely rich in flocks and herds
d. : a company of domestic poultry
a small flock of hens feeding on the lawn
making the farm flock pay
3.
a. : all Christians in their relation to Christ
b. : a Christian church or congregation in their relation to the pastor or minister in charge
c. : a company in relation to one in charge ; especially : the members of a family in relation to one member (as a father) who is responsible and in charge
a father worrying over the future of his little flock
4. : an aggregation, collection, or group of anything especially when large
returned with a flock of new ideas
the latest flock of annual reports makes depressing reading
drank a flock of martinis
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English flocken, from flock, n.
transitive verb
1. obsolete : to assemble into a flock or company
2.
a. obsolete : to crowd about (as a person)
b. : crowd , throng
vacationers flocked the shore
intransitive verb
: to gather into or move in bands or crowds
flocking about the speaker
people flocked to the country for the weekend
III. noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English; probably akin to Middle High German vlocke snowflake, down, flock of wool (from Old High German floccho, flocko down), Middle Low German vlocke snowflake, flock of wool, Norwegian flugsa, flygsa snowflake, Latvian plauki snowflakes, plaũkas tufts of wool, fibers
1. : a lock or tuft of wool or other fiber (as cotton or hair)
gleaning flocks from the bushes through which the sheep had passed
2. : woolen or cotten refuse (as processing waste or old rags) reduced usually by machinery and used especially for stuffing furniture and mattresses
cut into fragments to make flocks to stuff bedding — Flora Thompson
3. : very short or pulverized fiber (as of wool, cotton, rayon, or silk) obtained often from the textile processes of shearing or napping, used especially to form velvety patterns on cloth or paper or a soft protective covering on metal, and applied by blowing or shaking on a surface spread with adhesive
4. : floc
IV. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to fill (as a mattress) with flock
2.
a. : to coat (as an adhesive surface) or cover (as an evergreen bough) with flock
b. : to weight (woolen cloths) by blowing in short waste fibers and shrinking and pressing
c. : to decorate (as wallpaper) with raised patterns of flock
finished with flocked red wallpaper to look like velvet — Alice Griffin
3.
[translation of Latin flocci facere, literally, to make flocks]
obsolete : to treat contemptuously
intransitive verb
: floc