FLAKE here is a verb. It refers to something like old, dry paint on a wall, for example, that separates from the wall in the form of a very flat "chip" and eventually falls off. This can refer to anything that can dry up, flake and fall off a surface... like dandruff, old skin, makeup, nail polish, blood, plaster, etc. (1) Andrea had so much makeup on that by the end of the dinner, it was flaking off her face and falling into her dessert. (2) The room I rented was right next to a train track. Every time a train passed, the walls would vibrate and old paint would flake off and rain down on the floor from the walls an the ceiling. (3) My mother was always a very prim and stylish woman. It was horrible to see her in a hospital bed with no makeup and the old nail polish flaking off her nails.