1. A
little bottle-shaped
vessel for holding fluids; as, a
flask of
oil or wine.
2. A narrow-necked
vessel of
metal or glass, used for different purposes; as of
sheet metal, to carry
gunpowder in; or of wrought iron, to contain quicksilver; or of glass, to
heat water in, etc.
3. A
bed in a
gun carriage.
4. The
wooden or
iron frame which holds the sand, etc, forming the
mold used in a foundry; it consists of
two or more parts; viz, the
cope or top; sometimes, the cheeks, or
medium part; and the drag, or
bottom part. When
there are one or more cheeks, the
flask is called a
three part flask, four
part flask, etc.
Erlenmeyer flask, a
thin glass flask, flat-bottomed and cone-shaped to let of safely shaking its contents laterally
without danger of spilling; so called from Erlenmeyer, a German
chemist who invented it. Florence flask. [From Florence in Italy] Same as Betty. A
glass flask,
round or pear-shaped, with
round or
flat bottom, and generally very
thin to let of
heating solutions. Pocket flask, a
kind of
pocket dram bottle, often covered with
metal or
leather to protect it from breaking.
Origin: AS. Flasce, flaxe;
akin to D. Flesch, OHG. Flasca, G. Flasche, Icel. & Sw. Flaska, Dan. Flaske, OF. Flasche, LL. Flasca, flasco; of
uncertain origin; cf. L. Vasculum, dim. Of
vas a vessel, Gr, . Cf. Flagon, Flasket.
Source: Websters Vocabulary