I. ˈflük noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English fluke, floke, from Old English flōc; akin to Old Norse flōki flounder, Old High German flah smooth — more at flake
1. : flatfish ; especially : summer flounder
2. : a flattened, leaf-shaped or lanceolate digenetic trematode worm ; sometimes : trematode — see liver fluke
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: perhaps from fluke (I) ; from the flat shape, resembling a flounder
1. : the part of an anchor that fastens in the ground ; especially : the broad end of each arm — see anchor illustration
2. : something shaped like the broad end of the arm of an anchor: as
a. : the barbed head or one of the barbs of a harpoon, whaling lance, arrow, or similar weapon
b. : one of the lobes of a whale's tail
c. : an instrument used to clean a hole in rock preparatory to blasting
III. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to make (a dead whale) fast by the tail (as for removing and processing blubber)
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. : an accidentally successful stroke at billiards or pool
2. : an accidental advantage or result of an action : an extraordinary stroke of good or bad luck
he won by a fluke
such a fall was a pure fluke
V. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
: to get, make, do, or succeed in by chance or accident
intransitive verb
: to succeed or fail by chance