flask
/ˈflɑːsk/
"flask" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“flask” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #22,379 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #22,379
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - 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.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | flask |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈflɑːsk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #22,379 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “flask” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for flask is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈflɑːsk/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,379 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for flask, with forms such as "falsk", "fflask", and "flaks". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "flat", "flaw", "flax", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English flask, flaske (“case, cask, keg”), from Old English flasce, flaxe (“bottle, flask”) and Medieval Latin flascō (“bottle”); from Frankish *flaskā; both from Proto-Germanic *flaskǭ (“braid-covered bottle, wicker-enclosed jug”), from Proto-I… The correct English form is flask, spelled F-L-A-S-K.
Definition
- 1A 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.
- 2A container used to discreetly carry a small amount of a hard alcoholic beverage; a pocket flask.
- 3Laboratory glassware used to hold larger volumes than test tubes, normally having a narrow mouth of a standard size which widens to a flat or spherical base.
- 4A container for holding a casting mold, especially for sand casting molds.
- 5A bed in a gun carriage.
- 6A nuclear flask, a large, secure lead-lined container for the transport of nuclear material.
- 7A small bottle of liquor.
Etymology
From Middle English flask, flaske (“case, cask, keg”), from Old English flasce, flaxe (“bottle, flask”) and Medieval Latin flascō (“bottle”); from Frankish *flaskā; both from Proto-Germanic *flaskǭ (“braid-covered bottle, wicker-enclosed jug”), from Proto-Indo-European *ploḱ-skō (“flat”), or from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to weave”). Doublet of fiasco, flacon, and flagon. Related to Dutch fles; also German Low German Flaske, Fless, German Flasche, Danish flaske; also Lithuanian plókščias, Czech ploský, Albanian flashkët. The sense “laboratory glassware” is from Italian fiasco, and the sense “container for holding a casting mold” is from Middle French flasque (“powder flask”), itself from Old Spanish flasco, frasco, both from Late Latin above.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: falsk,fflask,flaks,flaskk,flassk,fllask,flsak,lfask
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of flask - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “flask”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-L-A-S-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈflɑːsk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “flat” - see the side-by-side comparison. flask vs flat
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.