Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Chiefly British A hard or chewy bar traditionally made from oats and brown sugar, softened with butter and golden syrup, and then baked.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A cake of batter baked on a griddle, in a shallow pan, or on a board: so called from the practice of tossing the cake into the air when it is done on one side, by a dexterous movement of the griddle, in such a manner as to turn it over and catch it again flat upon the griddle with the baked side uppermost. Also flipjack.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A fklat cake turned on the griddle while cooking; a griddlecake or pacake.
  • noun Prov. Eng. A fried dough cake containing fruit; a turnover.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US A pancake.
  • noun UK A bar made of (though not limited to) rolled oats, butter, golden syrup, and brown sugar, and which is baked in a tray.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a flat cake of thin batter fried on both sides on a griddle

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Earlier flap, to flip (a pancake) + jack, fellow (as used to form the name of objects and contrivances).]

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Examples

  • Aloe and a Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, commonly called a flapjack plant (top), along with aeonium (middle) and agave (bottom) are popular succulents in California gardens.

    3 succulents to consider for California gardens 2010

  • When I was growing up in England in the fifties and sixties, there was a snack called a flapjack that could be bought at bakeries but was more often found in homes, served up by diligent housewives.

    One For The Table: Tracy Tynan on Flapjacks - The British Madeline 2010

  • I looked after the cooking that evening, making some baking-powder bread, -- otherwise known as a flapjack, -- along with other arrangements for the next day; but I fear my efforts as a cook always resulted rather poorly.

    Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico

  • However, the self-raising buckwheat flour makes an excellent flapjack, which is likewise good for your insides.

    The Mountains Stewart Edward White 1909

  • However, the self-raising buckwheat flour makes an excellent flapjack, which is likewise good for your insides.

    The Mountains 1904

  • Where I was born, the term "flapjack" meant a pancake, made often with a buckwheat flour slury and fried on a hot gridle.

    October recipe: Flapjack Carla 2007

  • Thankfully, no carol singers have ever turned up unexpectedly at my front door in the 18 years I've been living in Streatham, and if they did they wouldn't be offered a flapjack.

    TV review: Rick Stein's Spanish Christmas; Nigel Slater's Simple Christmas; Obsessive Compulsive Hoarder 2011

  • “Sounds like you might already know of something,” he said, taking another bite of flapjack.

    Starcraft II: Devils’ Due Christie Golden 2011

  • The old man of indiscriminate accent led Phil through the city, stopping only occasionally for an egg salad sandwich or a flapjack, which neither liked particularly, but prices were high in the city and they were on a budget.

    Freedom Can Wait (The First Time) Christopher Allen 2011

  • From the grub-box he resurrected the half of a cold heavy flapjack.

    CHAPTER 4 2010

Comments

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  • I used to love flapjacks when I was a kid!

    November 27, 2007

  • Me too! They were often the most palatable thing on the lunch menu at school.

    November 27, 2007