▪ I. flank, n.1
(flæŋk)
Forms: 1 flanc, 4–7 flanke, (4 flaunke, flawnkke), 6–7 flanck(e, 5– flank.
[a. F. flanc, = Pr. flanc, It. fianco (Sp., Pg. flanco, only in transferred senses, appears to be from French):—pop. Lat. *flancum.
The ulterior etymology is disputed. The most probable hypothesis appears to be that it is adopted from the Teut. word which appears in OHG. hlancha, lanka, MDu. lanke, early ME. lonke; instances of Romanic fl- from Teut. hl- are believed to occur in some proper names, as F. Floovent, med.L. Flodoardus. Diez regarded the word as a nasalized form of the L. flaccus flaccid, comparing, for the development of sense, Ger. weiche flank from weich soft; but no adj. *flancus is known in L. or Rom.]
I. As denoting a part of the body.
1. a. The fleshy or muscular part of the side of an animal or a man between the ribs and the hip.
| a 1100 Prudentius Glosses cited by Napier in Academy XLV. 457 Ilia, flances. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 9247 Schuldir and side and flaunke also. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 269 Þou muste ordeyne..fastnyngis tofore & bihinde & in hise flankis. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. iv. iv. P ij b, The .x. place is in the flankes for the rupture. 1583 Hollyband Campo di Fior 187 The poore jawde..Which hath no fleshe on his flancs. 1639 Massinger Unnat. Combat i. i, Charge her home in the flank. 1691 Ray Creation ii. (1704) 387 The Hedgehog hath his Back-sides and Flanks set with strong and sharp prickles. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 127 Which made his horse's flanks to smoke. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xxi. 532 They [marking-irons] may have been employed to brand the flanks of colts and cattle. |
b. A part of the same sold as
thick flank or
thin flank.
| 1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery xxi. 160 A Bullock... The Hind Quarter..the Thin and Thick-flank. 1796 ― Cookery xviii. 289 Take a piece of thin flank of beef and bone it. |
c. in
Arachnida and
Crustacea: The
pleura or side of the tergum and thorax.
| 1835–6 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 202 The flancs (pleuræ)..have mutually approximated and become united..If the carapace is raised in a crab, the flancs or pleuræ are seen beneath. |
† 2. The belly; the womb.
Obs.| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. i. (1495) 738 An olyphaunt hath tetys vnder the breste: and the maare in the flanke bitwene the thyes behynde. 1481 Caxton Myrr. ii. vi. 76 They bere them ii yere in their flankes. |
3. In the
Leather trade: That part of the hide or skin which covered the flank of the animal.
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., Flank 3. The thin portion of a skin of leather. 1885 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather i. i. 38 The parts of hides are called butts, backs, flanks, etc. |
4. pl. (See
quots.) [
Cf. F.
mal de flancs.]
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Flanks (among Farriers) a Wrench, Crick, Stroke or other Grief in the Back of a Horse; also a kind of Pleurisy, proceeding from his being over-run with too much Blood. 1810 James Milit. Dict. (ed. 3), Flanks in farriery, a wrench or any other grief in the back of a horse. |
II. Transferred uses (with
gen. sense ‘side’.)
5. gen. The side or lateral part of anything,
e.g. of a building, a mountain, etc.
| 1624 Wotton Archit. (1672) 17 When the Face of the Building is narrow, and the Flank deep. Ibid. 29 They [i.e. Pilasters] are commonly narrower in Flank, then in Front. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 674 So long, that mountains have arisen since With cities on their flanks. 1892 Woodward & Burnett Heraldry II. 687 Flanks (F. flancs) the sides of the escucheon. |
6. Mil. The extreme left or right side of an army or body of men in military formation; a wing.
† a flank (see also aflank),
in flank: at the side.
to turn the flank (of an enemy): see
turn.
| 1548 Patten Exped. Scotl. I ij b, The Master of the ordinaunce..did gall them with hailshot..and certeyn other gunners with there peces, a flanke, from our Rerewarde. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 1309 Whilest he and his horsemen gave the charge on the flanke of their battaille. 1600 in Lismore Papers Ser. ii. (1887) I. 33 He drew vpp that squadron..to chardge them in fflancke. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 570 He scarce Had ended, when to Right and Left the Front Divided, and to either Flank retird. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 69 Whoever offers to approach between these towers, is exposed to be taken in flank and slain. 1810 James Milit. Dict. (ed. 3), Flank en potence is any part of the right or left wing formed at a right angle with the line. 1810 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. VI. 316 The enemy having it thus in their power to throw their whole force upon both flanks of this army. 1844 H. Wilson Brit. India II. 271 They..were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. |
7. Fortification. Any part of a work so disposed as to defend another by a flanking fire;
esp. the part of a bastion reaching from the curtain to the face and defending the opposite face.
| 1590 Marlowe 2nd Pt. Tamburl. iii. ii, It must have..store of ordnance, that from every flank May scour the outward curtains of the fort. 1672 J. Lacey tr. Tacquett's Milit. Archit. iii. 4 The flanques of the Bulwork and Courtine. 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 4082/3 The Ditch is doubly Palisadoed, with very good Flanks within. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn., Flank of the Courtine or Second Flank, is that part of the Courtine, between the Flank, and the Point where the Fichant Line of Defence ends. 1810 James Milit. Dict. (ed. 3) s.v. Fortification, Flanks of the Bastion are the parts between the faces and the curtain. 1868 Kinglake Crimea (1877) III. v. 364 At the flanks of the bastions. |
8. In other technical uses:
a. Arch. (See
quot. 1874).
b. Mech. (See
quot. 1842).
| 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, etc., Flank, the straight part of the tooth of a wheel which receives the impulse. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 876/1 Flank (Architecture) the haunch of an arch; the shoulder between the crown and the springing. |
III. 9. attrib. and
Comb., as
flank-piece; (senses 6, 7) as
flank attack,
flank company,
flank defence,
flank file,
flank fire,
flank guard,
flank march,
flank movement,
flank officer;
flank-wise adv. Also,
flank angle Mech. (see
quot. 1954);
flank-bone, the ilium or haunch-bone;
flank forward Rugby Football (
orig. S. Afr.), a wing forward; so
flank, used
absol.,
flank-wall, a side wall.
| 1951 Engineering 21 Sept. 369/3 A screw thread has..seven elements of shape and size: major diameter, minor diameter, effective diameter, pitch, *flank angles, [etc.]. |
| 1876 Voyle Milit. Dict. (ed. 3), *Flank-attack..one of the modes of attack whereby the side or flank of an army..is attacked. |
| 1954 Defs. for Use in Mech. Engin. (B.S.I.) 17 Flank angles, the angles between the individual flanks and the perpendicular to the axis of the thread measured in an axial plane section. |
| 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. iv. xvi. 351 Os Innominatum..which some term..the *Flank⁓bone. |
| 1809 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. IV. 324 The *flank companies of the 29th, 43rd and 52nd Regiments. |
| 1851 J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. 150 If the church is not built on a plan favourable to *flank defence. |
| 1810 James Milit. Dict. (ed. 3), *Flank-files are the two first men on the right and the two last men on the left, telling downwards from the right. |
| 1810 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. VI. 331 Be prepared, particularly with your *flank fire every morning. |
| [1937 Rand Daily Mail 10 Apr. 18/2 Of the flank or back rankers Strachan cannot be left out.] Ibid. 25 June 22/1 Van der Berg will probably be one of the flank forwards. 1956 V. Jenkins Lions Rampant i. 19 Scotland's Greenwood, at flank-forward, saw to it that his country's honour was not besmirched. 1960 E. S. & W. J. Higham High Speed Rugby p. xx, We have adopted the name ‘flank’ instead of the more common ‘wing forward’ as being less likely to cause confusion between wing forward and wing three-quarter. Ibid. xii. 154 The Flanks (wing forwards): These are the open play specialists. |
| 1901 ‘Linesman’ Words by Eyewitness (1902) 305 Here they are spotted by the self⁓constituted British *flank-guard. 1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 234 Flank guard, a detachment detailed to cover the flank of a column marching past, or across the front of an enemy. 1930 Nation 6 Dec. 327/2 To Hutchinson..the Shelleyans are indebted for the fullest one-volume edition, and the Elians for the best cheap substitute for, or flankguard to, Mr. Lucas's Works of Charles and Mary Lamb. |
| 1866 E. B. Hamley Operat. War vi. 404 Thus Bulow's march to the field of Waterloo was a *flank march. |
| 1796 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 39 In the *flank movements of ranks by three's or by two's. |
| 1601 Cotgr., Soubspoictrine, the *flanke-peece, or bottome of the brisket of an Oxe, &c. |
| 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 265 If the House had stood by it self, then we might have had light to the Stairs from the *Flank Wall. 1819 Rees Cycl., Flank⁓walls, in Engineery, are the same with wing or return-walls of a lock or bridge. |
| 1603 Florio Montaigne (1634) 148 He pursued them, and charged them *flank-wise. 1863 Kinglake Crimea II. 279 Battalions of infantry which..Mentschikoff had been moving flankwise. |
▪ II. flank, n.2 Obs. exc. dial. (
flæŋk)
Forms: 4
flaunke, 6
flanke, 9
dial. vlank.
[Cf. flake n.2, of which this may be a nasalized form; Sw. has (snö) flanka a snowflake.] = flake n.2 2.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 954 Felle flaunkes of fyr & flakes of soufre. 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 148/1 His companie..carried vpon the ends of their poles flankes of fier. 1888 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., The vlanks was blowin all over the place. |
▪ III. flank, v. (
flæŋk)
Also 6–7
flanck(e,
flanke, (7
flanque).
[f. flank n.1 Cf. Fr. flanquer.] † 1. intr. To shoot on the flank or sideways; to deliver a raking fire.
Obs.| 1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. N vij, Loopholes as well for shooting directly foorthward as for flankyng at hand. |
2. trans. To guard, protect, strengthen, or defend on the flank.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. xi. 36 A brasen wall, Which mote the feebled Britons strongly flancke Against the Picts. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres iii. ii. 70 Some do vse to flanke the two sides of the battell with sleeues of shot. 1608 Grimstone Hist. France (1611) 464 The Brittons horse that flanked the armie, growes amazed, and leaues the foote naked. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 34 A Castle..flanckt with Ordnance. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 215 The Walls are very broad, and flank'd with Towers. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. xxvi, Our perfum'd prey..flank'd with rocks, did close in covert lay. 1704 Hymn Vict. lx, This Wing the Woods may flank, the Castle that. 1783 Watson Philip III (1839) 95 A strong intrenchment, flanked with bastions. a 1837 H. T. Colebrooke in Life (1873) 409 The parts of the wall do not well flank each other. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 385 It was flanked throughout its length by towers at equal distances of two hundred feet. |
| fig. 1680 J. Scott Serm. Wks. 1718 II. 24 We cannot..Flank and Rear our Discourses with Military Allusions. 1757 Monitor No. 100 ¶8 Ambitious men flank and fortify one crime with another. 1884 Chr. World 25 Dec. 995/1 Flanking himself with an apt quotation from the Psalms. |
| absol. 1644 Prynne & Walker Fiennes' Trial, App. 11. Fortified with a gallant Parrapet well flanking. 1672 J. Lacey tr. Tacquett's Milit. Archit. iii. 4 Each part of the Fortification must flanque and be flanqued. |
3. To menace or attack the flank of; to take in flank. Of artillery: To fire sideways upon, to rake.
| 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 123 Flancking and scouring all the ditch with their harquebussie. 1600 Holland Livy xxv. 564 Beaten back affront, beset behind, flanked on the sides..and environned round. 1736 T. Lediard Life Marlborough III. 40 The Enemy had, from hence, very much flank'd the Right of the Approaches. 1782 P. H. Bruce Mem. i. 29 One of our own guns..unhappily missing that object, the ball flanked our own trenches. 1820 Scott Monast. i, An advanced angle..with shot-holes for flanking the door-way. |
| absol. 1654 tr. Scudery's Curia Pol. 70 To leave no enemy in the rear to march after, and so to flank or offend. |
† b. To place (artillery, a battery) on the flank, for either attack or defence.
Obs. rare.
| 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. v. 12 They had moored up the Galley, and by it raised up a platform, whereupon they had flanked 25 Pieces of Ordnance. |
4. To take up or be posted in a position at the flank of; to be placed or situated on either side of. Also
pass.,
to be flanked by or with: to have situated or stationed on the flanks or sides.
| 1651 Davenant Gondibert iii. ii. xvi, Prostrate Meads, With Forrests flanck'd, where shade to darkness grew. a 1748 C. Pitt Ep. to Mr. Spence 34 Where stately colonades are flank'd with trees. 1779 J. Moore View Soc. Fr. (1789) I. xxiv. 188 A well made road..flanked on each side by very high hills. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xv, These viands being flanked by a bottle of spirits & a pot of porter. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. iii. 23 High mountains flanked us on either side. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. iv. §3. 231 A mountain, flanked by real precipices. |
† b. intr. To occupy a flank position, border
on or
upon.
Obs.| 1604 Grimstone Hist. Siege Ostend 192 Ten others [embrasures]..flanke vppon the approches. a 1680 Butler Milford-haven Rem. (1759) I. 417 That Side which flanks on the Sea and Haven needs no Art to fortify it. 1828 Webster, Flank, v. i. to be posted on the side. |
5. trans. To march past or go round the flank of; in
quot. transf.| 1893 Westm. Gaz. 22 Dec. 2/3 Did they flank the snow and go round to the right, or did they bring the whole avalanche down on top of them? |
b. U.S. slang. To dodge, etc. (see
quot.)
| 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms v. 286 The term to flank, which, from the strategy of the generals, descended in the mouth of privates to very lowly..meanings. When the men wished to escape the attention of pickets and guards by slipping past them, they said they flanked them; drill and detail and every irksome duty was flanked, when it could be avoided by some cunning trick. Soon..the poor farmer was flanked out of his pig and his poultry. |
6. In various nonce-uses.
a. To strike on the flank or side.
b. Of a ship: To present the flank or broadside to (a gale).
c. to flank down: to bring
down upon the flanks or hips.
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 501 As the said wind may flanke it on the side. 1704 Swift Batt. Bks. (end), Flanking down his Arms close to his Ribs, hoping to save his Body. 1762 Falconer Shipwr. ii. 298 For this assault should either quarter feel, Again to flank the tempest she might reel. |
▪ IV. flank, v.2 (
flæŋk)
[Onomatopœic; cf. flick, spank.] trans. To whip with a light, sudden stroke, to flick; also, to crack (a whip).
| 1830 Lytton P. Clifford iii, He then, taking up the driving whip, flanked a fly from the opposite wall. 1833 Anglo-sapphic Ode in Whibley Cap and Gown 136 Kicks up a row, gets drunk or flanks a tandem-Whip out of window. 1861 Mrs. Penny Romance Dull Life vii. 52 He still eased his feelings by flanking everything in the room with a very dusty pocket-handkerchief. |