noun

a small, flat, very thin piece of something, typically one which has broken away or been peeled off from a larger piece.

he licked the flakes of croissant off his finger

sliver,wafer,shaving,paring,peeling,chip,shard,scale,crumb,grain,speck,spillikin,fragment,scrap,shred,bit,particle,skelf,spall,lamina

verb

come or fall away from a surface in flakes.

the paint had been flaking off for years

peel off,peel,chip,scale off,blister,come off,come off in layers,desquamate,exfoliate