flank

Meaning

Verb

1. To attack the flank(s) of.
2. To defend the flank(s) of.
3. To place to the side(s) of.
4. To be placed to the side(s) of something (usually in terms of two objects, one on each side).

Noun

1. The lateral flesh between the last rib and the hip.
2. A cut of meat from the flank of an animal.
3. The extreme left or right edge of a military formation, army etc.
4. The sides of a bastion perpendicular to the wall from which the bastion projects.
5. The side of something, in general senses.
6. The outermost strip of a road.
7. The wing, one side of the pitch.
8. That part of the acting surface of a gear wheel tooth that lies within the pitch line.

Adj

Maximum. 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.

Synonyms

side

wing

🪽

lateral

sidelight

aspect

border

rib

face

breast

side of body

groin

downstroke

corner

edge

end

🔚

fringe

hand gear

laterally

leaf

leg

🦵

level

limb

line

loin

outflank

page

pleura

rim

run along

shore

sides

skirt

thigh

vane

wall

ward

skirt steak

hypocondrium

lumbus

lateral area

side face

lateral face

body’s side

abdomen

lateral surface profile plane

abut

adjoin

aisle

ala

armpit

bank

🏦

belly

border on

boundary

broadside

circumvent

Pronounced as (IPA)

/flæŋk/

Etymology

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

Sentences

The range's western flank is the site of a series of now-semi-abandoned mining towns .