flock 
flock 1 (flok), n. [< ME. flock, flokk, flok, floe, a 
company or band (of men), a flock or herd (of 
deer, swine, sheep, birds), < AS.floc,flocc, a com- 
pany or band (of persons not used of In .1^1- 
or birds), = MLG. vlocke (in sense 2) = Icel. 
flokkr, a company or band (of persons), = Sw. 
flock, a crowd, a collection, = Dan./oA', a flock 
(in all the E. uses). Other connections un- 
known; as the special reference to birds is 
modern, the supposed relation toflyl, AS.fleo- 
gan, etc., will not hold.] 1. A company or 
band (of persons). The word is now seldom used 
with reference to persons, except as in the ecclesiastical 
or religious sense (def. 3), which is a figurative use of 
sense 2. 
Hys men he delys in twoo flockkes. 
Hi'-liard Coer de Lion, 1. 3816. 
We saw, come marching ower the kuows, 
Five hundred Fennlcks in & flock. 
Raid of the Jteidxirire (Child's Ballads, VI. 134). 
I then in London, keeper of the king, 
Muster'd my soldiers, gather'd flocks of friends. 
flogging 
L. is uncertain. Ct.flakel.] 1. A lock or tuft flock-patedt (flok'pa"ted), a. Having a head 
or brains like wool; stupid; silly. 
I prithee, Tom. beat Cut's saddle, put a tew flock, in the And he that would be a poet' 
point ; the poor jade is wrung in the withers. Must in no ways be flock-paled 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., ii. 1. His ignorance, if he show it, 
2. Finely powdered wool or cloth, used, when He 8ha11 uf a11 schollers be bated. 
colored, for making flock-paper and also for- , Roxburgh Ballads, II. . <0,.,v,.) 
merly as shoddy. See extract under flock-pou-- flock-powder (flok'pou"der), . 
der. 3. The refuse of wool, or the shearings of - St ' e tlae extract, 
woolen goods, or old cloth or rags torn or bro- " ' lis cloth be xvii yeards long, he will set him on a 
ken up by the machine called the devil, used for ''!"*. al l stretch him out with ropes, and racke him till 
stuffing mattresses mihoUrpi-ijio- fWnitnve otn smewi-s Bhrlnke againe, whiles he hath brought him 
ies, upm nngturmtuie, etc. to xviii yeards. When they have brought him to that per- 
They were wont to make . . . beds of flocks, and it was fection. they have a pretie feate to thieke him againe. 
a good bed too. Latimer,S& Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1549. He makes me a powder for it, and plaies the poticarie, 
4 Snme us flnrl- h,>rl thev l ' a " lt flo'^'l'Oii'der, they do so incorporate it to the 
4. bame as flock-bed. ,. loth| tlmt it is wollderflll , mns{<lt . rt .,',.., ,.,,,, invell . 
Here, mi a matted rinck, with dust o'erspread, 'ion. Oh, that so goodly wits should be so ill applied ' 
The drooping wretch reclines his languid head. They may wel deceive the people, but they cannot deceive 
Crabbe, Works, I. 13. God. Latimfr, ad .Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1549. 
5. pi. Dregs; sediment; specks; motes. flock-printing (flok'prin"ting), . An impres- 
Not to leave unieflockes in the bottome of the cup. s ' on m varnish subsequent^ coated with flock, 
' Pierce Penuilesse (1592). or finely powdered wool or clot h. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 1. " '- _ j_ ;,*"' " " 
2. A company of animals, in modern use espe- 6 - In chem -> a loose % ht mass of an y substance : nock-raikt (flok rak), n. A range of pasture- 
-:_n *_c_. ITO-j. . usually auidied only to such masses us thev an- I >unu tor sheep. 
'i), a. [< flock? + -yi.] Like flocks 
. , - -< 
cially of sheep, goats, or birds. Among sports- Dually applied only to such masses as they ap- 
pear suspended m a solution. 
men it is applied especially to companies of wild 
ducks, geese, and shore-birds. 
A semblee of peple withouten a cheveuteyn, or a chief 
If any Iron is present, brown flocki will remain floating 
in the ammoniacal solution. Ure, Diet., IV. 933. 
lord, is as a /toe* of scheep withouten a schepp'erde. flock 2 (flok), r. t. [< flock^, n.] To cover with 
-- r . _.^_.'_ j- ; 7, J 
ute floe 
Matideville, Travels, p. 3. 
Of wilde bestis cam gret pray, . . . 
Afterward a flok of bryddis. 
King Alisaunder, 1. 564. 
There myghte men see many flokkts 
Of turtles and laverokkes. 
Horn, of the Rose, 1. 661. 
or locks of wool ; floccose ; flocculent ; woolly. 
The eye passed to the south and south-western cobalt 
peaks and domes of the Barisan, studded with/furfv; hum. 
mocks. //. (). Forljes, Eastern Archipelago, 'p. 214. 
t fl V , 
flock; distribute flock on (a prepared surface a A , . ,.,,, ,-, 
of cloth or paper). E. H. Knight. See flock? 2 ode !"- A Middle English form of flood. 
n., 2. 
If the goods have been heavily flocked . 
be trouble in getting them evenly sheared. 
Manufacturers' Rev., XX. 223. 
Thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount flock 3 (flok), w. [E. dial., another form of 
Gilead. Cant. iv. i. flake*.) A hurdle: same as flake?. [Prov. 
If I do not beat thee out of thy kingdom with a dagger Ene.] 
flock 4 t (flok), v. t. [Origin obscure ; possibly as- 
sociated with flock? (cf. floccipend).] To flout ; 
jeer. 
We do hym loute and flocke, 
And make him among vs our common sporting-stocke 
Udall, Roister Doister, lil. 3. 
flocki'ubrtt; < flock* + led.] A bed filled with 
flocks, or locks of wool, or pieces of cloth cut 
floe (flo), n. [Another "form of flaw 1 , a flake, 
fragment, etc., < D&n.flage = Sw'.flaga = Norw. 
there may ^ ft flak0j ; c Dftn is . fl ^ = g w ^ 
flnga = Noi-w. is-flak, dial, is-flake, is-flok, an ice- 
of lath, and drive all thy subjects afore thee like a flock 
of wild geese, I'll never wear hair on my face more. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., U. 4. 
Hence 3. In Biblical and ecclesiastical use, a 
company of persons united in one church, un- 
der a leader called, by the same figure, the shep- 
herd or pastor; a congregation, with regard to flock-bed (flok'bed), . [= D. vlokbed = G. 
its minister. .--__. ^ ^ , a . , ,s . , , 
Neither as being lords over Cod's heritage, but being en- 
samples to the flock. 1 Pet v. 3. 
= Syn. Flock, Gaggle, Coney, Pack, Gang, Winp, Bevy, 
Sedge, Brood. Flock is the popular term for birds of 
many sorts ; it is applied by sportsmen especially to wild 
ducks, geese, and shore-birds. Herbert applies gaggle to 
geese; Colquhoun applies it to geese swimming; it is not 
used in the United States. Covey is applied to several 
kinds of birds, especially partridges and pinnated grouse. 
Pack is applied to the pinnated grouse in the late season 
when they go in " packs" or large flocks. Gang is applied 
up fine; a bed stuffed with flock, or the refuse 
of wool. Also called flock. 
Get you to your fleas and your flock-beds, you rogues. 
B. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, iv. 3. 
On once & flock-bed, but repair'd with straw, 
floe: Me Jfow 1 , /lofca 1 , and flag*.] Ice formed 
by the freezing of the surface-water of the polar 
oceans, and subsequently broken up by the ac- 
tion of the winds and the waves into tabular 
masses of greater or less size; also, a piece 
of such ice. 
For some days after this we kept moving slowly to the 
south, along the lanes that opened between the belt-ice 
and the floe. Kane, Sec. Oriiin. Exp., II. 266. 
The whole sea was covered with floes varying from a 
few yards to miles in diameter. 
E. L. tlon, Shores of the Polar Sea, p. 28. 
The word /toe is a very indefinite one, being applied to 
any single piece of salt-water ice, whether large or small. 
It is applied irrespectively to such pieces, whether of 
original formation or enlarged by accretion of other floes, 
which, cemented, form a whole. 
A. W. Greelii, Arctic Service, p. 43. 
Great Villiers lies. Pope, Moral Essays, iii.' 301 . floe-berg (flo'berg), w. Ice resulting from the 
ons. Brood applies to the mother and her young till the 
On a flock-bed lay the old man he came to visit, 
Henry Mackenzie, The Mirror, 1779. 
flock-duck (flok'duk), n. Same a,sfloeking-foicl. 
G. Trumbull. [Eastern U. S.] 
latter are old enough for game. flocked (flokt), p. a. I. Covered with flock. 
flock 1 (flok), r. [< ME. flocken, flogken = Sw. 2. Having the nap raised Flocked enamel. See 
(rett.)flocka = Dan. flokke, gather in a flock; - entt "' el - 
from the noun.] I. intrans. To gather in a "OCketf, w. A loose garment with large sleeves 
flock, company, or crowd ; go in a flock or crowd : worn bv women in the sixteenth century. Also 
as, birds of a feather flock together; the peo- fl"kkard. 
pie flocked together in'the market-place. flockmg-fowl (flok'ing-foul), n. A gunners' 
Thefowels/M/h-dto-geder. Cursor Mundi 1 178 name lu t !? e United States of the blackheads 
' or scaup ducks, Aithyia mania and A. affinis, 
from their flocking. Also called raft-duck, flock- 
duck, and troop-fowl, from the same habit. See 
cut under scaup. 
flocking-machine (flok'ing-ma-shen*), n. A 
freezing of the surface-water of the ocean, or 
floe-ice, heaped up and more or less compacted 
into large and thick masses by the action of 
the winds and waves. 
The great stratified masses of salt ice that lie grounded 
along the shores of the Polar Sea are nothing more than 
fragments broken from the edges of the perennial floes. 
We called them floe-bergs, in order to distinguish them 
from and yet express their kinship to icebergs. The latter 
and their parent glaciers belong to more southern regions. 
E. L. A/o**, Shores of the Polar Sea, exp. of PI. xii. 
(flo'is), n. 
The young men of Rome began la flock about hi_. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, i. 14. 
They [barbels] flock together like sheep. 
/. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 167. 
It was for a matter of twelve years together that per- 
sons of all ranks, well affected unto church-reformation, 
kept sometimes dropping and sometimes flocking into 
New-England, though some that were coming into New- 
England were not suffered so to do. 
C. Mather, Mag. Chris., i. 5. 
II. t trans. 1. To gather into a flock or com- 
pany. 
Brenne . . . flokkede his cuihtes. Layamon, I. 201. 
2. To crowd. 
quantities to form even an open pack. 
A. W. Greely, Arctic Service, p. 66. 
floe-rat (flo'rat), n. A name of the ringed seal, 
Pagomys fwtidus. 
machine for spreading flock on prepared paper, flog (flog), '. t.; pret. and pp. flogged, ppr. flog- 
bee flock-paper ging. [Appears first in the latter part of the 
lockhng (flok'hng), 11. [< flock 1 + -M0l.] A 17th century (e. g., in Cole's Diet., A. D. 1684) ; 
-* a flock; a lamb; a sheep. prob. a LG. word of homely use, of which the 
re to keep my flocklings cleanly in a early traces have disappeared; cf. liG.flogger, 
Brome, Queen and Concubine (1659). a flail (cf . LG. flege I = E. flail) ; this seems to 
a flock . ' 
._. 
httle member of a flock; a lamb; a sheep. 
Turpentine and tarre to keep my flocklingn cleanly in a 
spring-time. 
fl c ljflyt, <>dv. 
ambush. 
Flocklye, or in a bushement, t'onfertini. Huloel. 
flockman (flok'man), n. ; pi. flockmen (-men). 
A shepherd. 
John Taylor, Works (1609). flock-master (flok'mas'ter), n. An owner or 
[< ME. flocke, flokke, a flock overseer of a flock ; a sheep-farmer. 
be = E.flogger.] 
cifically 2. To whip; chastise with repeated 
flood fellowes trooping flock'd me so, 
That, make what haste I could, the sunne was set 
Ere from the gates of London I could get. 
flock 2 (flok), 11. 
1. To beat or strike. Spe- 
stise with re 
blows, as of a rod or whip. 
, , . 
(of wool, etc.), a flake (of snow), = MD. vlocke, flockmealt (flok'mel), adv. [ME. flocmeel,floc- 
What shifts he us'd, detected in a scrape, 
How he was flogg'd, or had the luck t' escape. 
Cotrper, Tirocinium, 1. 329. 
3. To beat, in the sense of surpass; excel. 
[Colloq.] 
mele, flokmel, < AS. flocmcdum, floccmatlum, by 
flocks, in companies, <_flocc, a company, flock, 
+ mcelum, dat. pi. of mail, a mark, measure, ete. : 
If I don't think good cherry-bounce flogs all the foreign 
trash in the world. T. Hook. 
4. Inflshing, to lash (the water) with the line. 
To flog a dead horse. See 
A mallet used to beat the bung-stave of a cask 
D. vlok, a flock, flake, tuft, = MLG. vlocke, a 
flock (of wool, etc.), a flake (of snow), LG.flok, 
flokke, flog, flock, flake, = OHG. flocclio, MHG. 
vlocke, G. flocke, flock, flake, = Sw. flocka = seemeafl. Cf. piecemeal, dropmealA In a flock: _- To flog a dead horse. See Aow. 
Dan. flokke, flok, flock, = Icel. floki, felt, hair, in flocks or herds ; in a body. flogger (flog er), n. [< flog + -erl cf . LG. flag- 
wool, etc. (the Sw. and Dan. forms are prob! Floekmele on a day they to him wente % er > \ & f l : If! ^*'4 * ' , ne ^ ho fl g s -- 2- 
borrowed from LG. ; the Icel. form does not Chaucer, Clerk's Tale, 1. so. 
quite agree with the others). Cf . L. floccus, 
lock or flock of wool, on clothes, in fruits, 
anything of slight value (flocci nonface, 
not a straw for, flocci pendere, value at 
see floccipend), > OF. floe, F. floe, floche, also 
flocon, a flock of wool, etc., flake, mote, = Pr. 
floe = Pg. froco, flock, = It. focco, flock, flake, 
tassel. The relation of the Tent, forms to the 
smooth as impressed iu gilt upon the surface of the flock. 
Also called velvet-paper. 
The dining-room, a room of large proportions, has a gray- 
green flock-paper, with deep frieze of a gold ground. 
Art Age, V. 49. 
try intersected by canals, there never were any horses or 
chariots in it, they ought for this to take their part in the 
next general flogging at Westminster School. 
Bp. Horne, Works, IV., letter xiv. 
2. A lashing of water with a fish-line. 
