flank — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To attack the flank(s) of.

   Usage

   • Transitive

2. To defend the flank(s) of.

   Usage

   • Transitive

3. To place to the side(s) of.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   Stately colonnades are flank'd with trees.

   More examples (2)

   [...] Mr. M. N. Rollason points out that on four-track lines on which the fast lines, in the centre, are flanked by the slow lines, and running at speed is permissible on all four, the traveller can enjoy some quite exciting experiences when trains are doing a "neck-and-neck" on adjacent lines.

   It was a rural railway that served the fertile Fens of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. But because it flanked public roads and was unfenced (to save costs), it was deemed a tramway and its locomotives had to be fitted with a cowcatcher.

4. To be placed to the side(s) of something (usually in terms of two objects, one on each side).

   Usage

   • Intransitive

Noun

1. The lateral flesh between the last rib and the hip.

   Synonyms

   latus

   Examples

   Holonym: side

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.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Cautiously 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.

   Ahead the flanks of the Pennines gleamed faintly in the moonlight, looking as though they themselves were part of some dry and deserted lunar landscape.

6. Either of the two pockets located on the seat of a pair of pants.

   Examples

   I took the quarter and hid it in my right flank.

7. An ideological faction within a political party.

   Examples

   Ford survived a primary challenge in 1976 from the right flank of the Republican Party by Ronald Reagan.

8. The outermost strip of a road.

9. The wing, one side of the pitch.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   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.

10. That part of the acting surface of a gear wheel tooth that lies within the pitch line.

Adjective

1. 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.

   Usage

   • US usage
   • not-comparable
   • of speed

   Examples

   All ahead flank!

Noun

1. the side of military or naval formation

   Synonyms

   wing

   Broader terms

   formation

   Examples

   they attacked the enemy's right flank

2. a subfigure consisting of a side of something

   Broader terms

   subfigure

3. a cut from the fleshy part of an animal's side between the ribs and the leg

   Broader terms

   cut of beef

4. the side between ribs and hipbone

   Broader terms

   body part

Verb

1. be located at the sides of something or somebody

   Broader terms

   lie