flak

Ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells.countableuncountable

• Another peculiar modern development is that of […] military abbreviations in army orders such as Flak ('Fliegerabwehrkanone' or 'archie')[.]
• He was promoted to general of flak artillery on March 1, 1945, and ended the war as the general of the flak arm at OKL, the High Command of the Luftwaffe.

Anti-aircraft shell fire.countableuncountable

• At 1057 we were just over the islands and at 1100 the tail gunner reported flak at six o'clock, below.
• I could hear the fragments from the flak shells hitting the plane like someone throwing rocks at it.

Adverse criticism.countablefigurativelyinformal

• give someone flak
• getting flak from

A public-relations spokesperson.countableinformaluncountable

• 2006, Edward Herman, Noam Chomsky, A Propaganda Model, in 2006 [2001], Meenakshi Gigi Durham, Douglas Kellner (editors), Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks, revised edition, page 277, AIM head, Reed Irvine's diatribes are frequently publi