fluke1
n.
an unlikely chance occurrence, especially a stroke of luck.
v.
achieve by luck rather than skill.
Derivative
- flukily adv.
- flukiness n.
- fluky
(also flukey)
adj.
Etymology
C19 (orig. a term in games such as billiards denoting a lucky stroke): perh. a dial. word.
fluke2
n.
- a parasitic flatworm which typically has suckers and hooks for attachment to the host.
[Classes Trematoda and Monogenea.]
- chiefly dialect or N. Amer. a flounder or other flatfish.
Etymology
OE flōc (in sense 2), of Gmc origin.
fluke3
n.
- a broad triangular plate on the arm of an anchor.
- either of the lobes of a whale's tail.
Etymology
C16: perh. from fluke2 (because of the shape).