flank

See also: Flank

English

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, sleak, bendsome”), 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flæŋk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋk

Verb

flank (third-person singular simple present flanks, present participle flanking, simple past and past participle flanked)

1. (transitive) To attack the flank(s) of.
2. (transitive) To defend the flank(s) of.
3. (transitive) To place to the side(s) of.
   • Pitt

     Stately colonnades are flanked with trees.

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

Translations

to attack the flank(s)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: hyökätä sivustaan
• German: in der Flanke angreifen

• Italian: aggirare il fianco
• Polish: flankować (pl), oskrzydlać
• Portuguese: flanquear (pt)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can

to defend the flank(s)

• Bulgarian: пазя фланга (pazja flanga)
• Catalan: flanquejar (ca)

• Italian: proteggere il fianco
• Portuguese: flanquear (pt)

to place to the side(s) of something

• Danish: flankere (da)
• German: flankieren (de)

• Italian: fiancheggiare (it)
• Swedish: flankera (sv)

to be placed to the side(s) of something

• Bulgarian: гранича (bg) (graniča)
• Catalan: flanquejar (ca)
• Danish: flankere (da)

• Italian: affiancare (it)
• Portuguese: ladear (pt), flanquear (pt)
• Swedish: flankera (sv)

Noun

flank (plural flanks)

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. (military) The sides of a bastion perpendicular to the wall from which the bastion projects.
5. The side of something, in general senses.
   • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter VIII

     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.

6. The outermost strip of a road.
7. (soccer) The wing, one side of the pitch.
   • 2011 January 23, Alistair Magowan, “Blackburn 2 - 0 West Brom”, in BBC‎^[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.

8. 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

Translations

flesh between the last rib and the hip

• Bulgarian: хълбок (bg) m (hǎlbok)
• Burmese: နံ (my) (nam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 胁腹 (xie2fu4), 腰窝 (yao1wo1)

• Danish: flanke c
• Estonian: külg
• Finnish: kylki (fi), kuve (fi)
• French: flanc (fr) m
• Galician: faldra (gl) f
• German: Flanke (de) f
• Greek: πλευρά (el) f (plevrá)

  Ancient: κενεών m (keneṓn), λαγών f (lagṓn)

• Icelandic: huppur m

• Italian: fianco (it)
• Japanese: 脇腹 (わきばら, wakibara), 横腹 (よこばら, yokobara)
• Latin: latus (la) n
• Lithuanian: šónas m
• Maori: kaokao, hūhā, papa
• Polish: bok (pl) m
• Portuguese: flanco (pt)
• Romanian: flanc (ro) n, latură (ro) f
• Russian: бочо́к (ru) m (bočók)
• Scottish Gaelic: slios m
• Spanish: costado (es) m
• Tagalog: hipik-hipikan

cut of meat

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Danish: flanke c
• Finnish: kuve (fi) (beef), kylki (fi) (most others)
• French: flanchet (fr) m
• Galician: faldra (gl) f

• Greek: πλευρό (el) n (plevró)
• Italian: soccoscio, noce (it), rosa (it)
• Maori: hūhā
• Polish: łata (pl) f
• Russian: бочо́к (ru) m (bočók)
• Swedish: sida (sv) c

side of military formation

• Armenian: թև (tʿew)
• Bulgarian: фланг (bg) m (flang)
• Catalan: flanc m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 侧翼 (zh) (ce4yi4)

• Danish: flanke c
• Finnish: sivusta (fi), sivu (fi)
• French: flanc (fr) m

• German: Flanke (de) f
• Italian: fianco (it)
• Latin: cornu (la) n
• Polish: flanka (pl) f, skrzydło (pl) n
• Portuguese: flanco (pt) m
• Russian: фланг (ru) m (flang)
• Spanish: flanco (es) m
• Swedish: sida (sv) c, flank (sv) c

side

• Bulgarian: страна (bg) f (strana)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Danish: flanke c
• Finnish: sivu (fi), puoli (fi)
• French: flanc (fr) m
• Greek: πλευρά (el) f (plevrá)
• Italian: lato (it)

• Japanese: 横 (ja) (よこ, yoko), 脇 (ja) (わき, waki), 横腹 (よこばら, yokobara) (chiefly of a ship)
• Latin: latus (la) n
• Lithuanian: šónas m
• Maori: kaokao
• Russian: бок (ru) m (bok) (of the body), сторона́ (ru) f (storoná)
• Scottish Gaelic: slios m
• Spanish: flanco (es) m
• Swedish: sida (sv) c

outermost strip of road

• Bulgarian: банкет (bg) m (banket)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: piennar (fi)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can

Adjective

flank (not comparable)

1. (US, nautical, of speed) 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.

   All ahead flank!