FLUKE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does fluke mean? 

• FLUKE (noun)
  The noun FLUKE has 5 senses:

1. a stroke of luck

2. a barb on a harpoon or arrow

3. flat bladelike projection on the arm of an anchor

4. either of the two lobes of the tail of a cetacean

5. parasitic flatworms having external suckers for attaching to a host

  Familiarity information: FLUKE used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLUKE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A stroke of luck

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

fluke; good fortune; good luck

Hypernyms ("fluke" is a kind of...):

fortune; luck (an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that leads to a favorable outcome)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fluke"):

serendipity (good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries)

Derivation:

flukey; fluky (subject to accident or chance or change)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A barb on a harpoon or arrow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("fluke" is a kind of...):

barb (a subsidiary point facing opposite from the main point that makes an arrowhead or spear hard to remove)

Holonyms ("fluke" is a part of...):

harpoon (a spear with a shaft and barbed point for throwing; used for catching large fish or whales; a strong line is attached to it)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Flat bladelike projection on the arm of an anchor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

flue; fluke

Hypernyms ("fluke" is a kind of...):

projection (any structure that branches out from a central support)

Holonyms ("fluke" is a part of...):

anchor; ground tackle (a mechanical device that prevents a vessel from moving)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Either of the two lobes of the tail of a cetacean

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("fluke" is a kind of...):

tail (the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body)

Holonyms ("fluke" is a part of...):

blower; cetacean; cetacean mammal (large aquatic carnivorous mammal with fin-like forelimbs no hind limbs, including: whales; dolphins; porpoises; narwhals)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Parasitic flatworms having external suckers for attaching to a host

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

fluke; trematode; trematode worm

Hypernyms ("fluke" is a kind of...):

flatworm; platyhelminth (parasitic or free-living worms having a flattened body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fluke"):

Fasciola hepatica; liver fluke (flatworm parasitic in liver and bile ducts of domestic animals and humans)

Fasciolopsis buski (fluke that is parasitic on humans and swine; common in eastern Asia)

blood fluke; schistosome (flatworms parasitic in the blood vessels of mammals)

Holonyms ("fluke" is a member of...):

class Trematoda; Trematoda (parasitic flatworms (including flukes))