flake
A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything
Example
“There were a few flakes of paint on the floor from when we were painting the walls.”
Other meanings
A scale of a fish or similar animal
A prehistoric tool chipped out of stone.
Word history
From Old Norse "flak" (loose or torn piece).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “flake” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.