n. The part of an anchor which catches in the ground. See anchor.n. One of the barbs of a harpoon or toggle-iron; a flue: called by English whalemen wither.n. Either half of the tail of a cetacean or sirenian: so called from its resemblance to the fluke of an anchor.n. In mining, an instrument used to clean a hole previous to charging it with powder for blasting.n. [⟨ fluke, verb] In billiards, an accidentally successful stroke; the advantage gained when, playing for one thing, one gets another; hence, any unexpected or accidental advantage or turn; a chance; a scratch.n. Hence— To become refractory or mutinous; make a disturbance on board ship.n. Hence— To go to bed; bunk or turn in.In whaling: To disable the flukes of, as a whale, by spading.To fasten, as a whale, by means of a chain or rope.In whaling, to use the flukes, as a fish or cetacean: often with an indefinite it.To gain an advantage over a competitor or opponent by accident or chance; especially, to make a scratch in billiards. See fluke, n., 5.n. A name given locally in Great Britain to species of flatfish.n. A trematoid worm; an entozoic parasitic worm of the order Trematoidea, infesting various parts of man and other animals, especially the liver, bile-ducts, etc.: so called from the resemblance of its hydatid to a fluke or flounder.n. Waste cotton.n. A lock of hair.n. A result of accident or lucky chance rather than of skill.n. A failure, as of a yacht-race for lack of wind.In shooting, to hit by a chance shot.