The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - flake n.

1) snowflake; scale, chip, bit, piece, scrap, particle, tuft, flock, scurf, fragment, shaving, sliver; wafer, lamina, Technical squama: A flake of slate caught him in the eye. --v. 2) Often, flake off. scale, chip, fragment; Technical desquamate, exfoliate: The paint is flaking off on this side. 3 flake out. a collapse, go to or fall asleep, drop off (to sleep) , pass out, keel over: After the game, I flaked out on the couch for ten hours. b become flaky, act crazy: He flaked out when he heard the new record.