Flaker

Flaker is a term with multiple meanings, depending on the context. In everyday use, a flaker (often just called a flake) refers to a person who habitually fails to follow through on plans or commitments. Flakers may cancel plans at the last moment, miss deadlines, or appear unreliable. The label is informal and can undermine trust, so when dealing with a flaker people often emphasize clear communication, setting firm commitments, and checking in on progress.

In industrial and culinary settings, a flaker is a machine or device that produces flakes from larger pieces. In cereal processing, oat or corn flakers press grains between rollers to create thin flakes used in breakfast cereals and snacks. Ice flakers produce light, thin ice flakes for beverages, food service, or display purposes. In other material industries, flakers can refer to equipment or processes that shed thin layers from a material as part of shaping or preparation.

In the fields of archaeology and lithic studies, a flaker is a person who strikes a core to detach flakes as part of a reduction sequence toward a desired tool form. The term can also describe the artisan who specializes in knapping and shaping stone by removing flakes to create blank shapes for tools or weapons.

Overall, the meaning of flaker varies from personal behavior to a class of tools and machinery, spanning social, culinary, industrial, and scientific domains.