flank

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.

verb

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.
   Stately colonnades are flank'd with trees. c. 1728, Christopher Pitt, Epistle to Mr. Spence
   … 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. 1944 May and June, “Notes and News: Express Travel on Slow Lines”, in Railway Magazine, page 184
   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. January 11 2023, Richard Foster, “British Rail's weirdest railways...: Wisbech & Upwell Tramway”, in RAIL, number 974, page 46
4. (intransitive) To be placed to the side(s) of something (usually in terms of two objects, one on each side).

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. (military) The sides of a bastion perpendicular to the wall from which the bastion projects.
5. The side of something, in general senses.
   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. 1960 January, G. Freeman Allen, “"Condor"—British Railways' fastest freight train”, in Trains Illustrated, page 48
6. The outermost strip of a road.
7. (soccer) The wing, one side of the pitch.
   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. January 23, 2011, Alistair Magowan, “Blackburn 2 - 0 West Brom”, in BBC
8. That part of the acting surface of a gear wheel tooth that lies within the pitch line.

adj

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!