phrasal verb

• 1North American informal Fail to keep an appointment or fulfil a commitment, especially with little or no advance notice.

  More example sentences

  • ‘he flakes out on plans all the time for no good reason’
  • ‘many volunteers flake out after the first meeting’
  • ‘As soon as it rains, my cable service flakes out on me.’
  • ‘I did notice that the Bluetooth connection would occasionally flake out.’
  • ‘The airport's Wi-Fi is flaking out.’
  • ‘With a few keystrokes you can resume downloads that keep flaking out.’
  • ‘My phone is flaking out. When I turn it on, it keeps moving sideways, back and forth.’
  • ‘Whether websites are failing to load or your wireless is flaking out, you may just want to try rebooting your router.’
  • ‘Put the wrong version on your device and, at best, it will just flake out unpredictably. (In the worst case, you might have a brick on your hands .)’
  • ‘Because the guitar's made of Lego, the tuning starts to flake out after a couple of songs.’
  • ‘The computer looks out for environmental features to discern its location, improving accuracy and also acting as a fail-safe should the GPS flake out.’
  • ‘If your hard drive is flaking out, don't despair, a replacement hard drive is less expensive than you think.’

  1. 1.1(of a piece of equipment or machinery) break down or malfunction.
     More example sentences

     • ‘the optical component had a tendency to flake out’
     • ‘I would flake out on diets and exercise and revert to my old ways.’
     • ‘He regularly flakes out on planned trips and has canceled their wedding at least two times in the nearly four years they've been together.’
     • ‘For over a month, we kept trying to set up a couples' dinner, but every time we had a plan, they flaked out at the last minute.’
     • ‘You're less likely to flake out on a session in winter if you've committed to it with a friend.’
     • ‘Erin has been casually dating Leah for months and must decide whether to commit or continue flaking out on someone she has real feelings for.’
     • ‘Last week my date had just flaked out on me, and since I was bored, I found myself indulging in the time-honored activity of looking up random things on Wikipedia.’
     • ‘At this point you've witnessed countless incredible women forgive guys for abuse, for cheating, for flaking out, for ghosting, and for just not being there when they needed them most.’
     • ‘Even the members of his party who critique him on social media still flake out and vote with him overwhelmingly instead of using their leverage.’
     • ‘The new trade deal walks back the original commitment the countries made, and makes it easier for members to flake out.’
     • ‘In the past, David has flaked out on the occasion, so she was not expecting too much from her father.’