Flask \Flask\, n. [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.]

1. A small bottle-shaped vessel for holding fluids; as, a flask of oil or wine.

2. A narrow-necked vessel of metal or glass, used for various 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. [Obs.]

--Bailey.

4. (Founding) 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 middle 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 allow 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.]


   (a) Same as Betty, n., 3.
   (b) A glass flask, round or pear-shaped, with round or flat bottom, and usually very thin to allow of heating solutions.

Pocket flask, a kind of pocket dram bottle, often covered with metal or leather to protect it from breaking.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)