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n. 1. Any of numerous parasitic flatworms, including the trematodes, some of which infect humans, and the monogeneans, which are chiefly ectoparasites of fish. 2. Any of various flatfishes chiefly of the genus Paralichthys, especially the summer flounder. [Middle English, flounder, flatfish, from Old English flōc; see plāk-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots. Sense 1, from the flounderlike shape of sheep flukes .] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. 1. Nautical The triangular blade at the end of an arm of an anchor, designed to catch in the ground. 2. A barb or barbed head, as on an arrow or a harpoon. 3. Either of the two horizontally flattened divisions of the tail of a whale. [Possibly from FLUKE1.]  (click for a larger image) fluke2top: arrowhead and whale flukes bottom: anchor flukes |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. 1. A chance occurrence: That spring snowstorm was a total fluke. 2. Games An accidentally good or successful stroke in billiards or pool. [Origin unknown.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
