Flank

Pronunciation

• IPA: /flæŋk/
• US IPA: /fleɪŋk/
• Rhymes: -æŋk

Origin

From Late Middle English flanc, from Old French flanc, of origin, probably Frankish *hlanca, from Proto-Germanic *hlankaz ("flexible", "to bend"), from Proto-Indo-European *kleng- ("to bend"). Akin to Old High German hlanca ("loin"), Middle High German lanke ("hip joint") (German lenken ("to bend, turn, lead")), Old English hlanc ("loose, slender, flaccid, lank"). More at lank.

Full definition of flank

Adjective

1. (nautical) Maximum (of speed). Historically faster than full speed (the most a vessel can sustain without excessive engine wear or risk of damage), now frequently used interchangeably. Typically used in an emergency or during an attack (All ahead flank!).

Noun

1. (anatomy) The flesh between the last rib and the hip; the side.
2. (cooking) A cut of meat from the flank of an animal.
3. (military) The extreme left or right edge of a military formation, army etc.
4. The side of something, in general senses.
• 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot (novel) Chapter VIIICautiously I approached the flank of the cliffs, where they terminated in an abrupt escarpment as though some all powerful hand had broken off a great section of rock and set it upon the surface of the earth.
5. The outermost strip of a road.
6. (soccer) The wing, one side of the pitch.
• 2011, January 23, Alistair Magowan, Blackburn 2 - 0 West Brom, The hosts also had Paul Robinson to thank for a string of saves, three of them coming against Jerome Thomas, who gave Michel Salgado a torrid time down the left flank.
7. That part of the acting surface of a gear wheel tooth that lies within the pitch line.

Synonyms

• (all senses) side
• (side of formation) wing

Derived terms

• (flesh between the last rib and the hip) flank steak

Coordinate terms

• (cut of meat from the flank of an animal) fajita

Verb

1. (transitive) To attack the flank(s) of something.
2. (transitive) To defend the flank(s) of something.
3. (transitive) To place to the side(s) of something.
• PittStately colonnades are flanked with trees.
4. To be placed to the side(s) of something (usually in terms of two objects, one on each side.)