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What is "flank"

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flank
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
flank
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
eastern
▪ The most productive coalfields in Great Britain in the 1980s were on the eastern flanks of the Pennines.
left
▪ Four 109s came in on the left flank, firing from such a ridiculous range that Patterson knew the pilots were inexperienced.
▪ They had us pinned with fire from the front, the left flank, and the rear.
▪ Again the danger came down the left flank as Dow passed to Drew Waddell who touched down.
▪ His left flank lay at Pittsburg Landing, his right about two miles inland.
▪ The vital section for the south to defend was the left flank, which protected the routes to Seoul and Inchon.
▪ At that point, I ordered them to do a left flank.
▪ On each alternate beat a hollow appeared in her left flank.
▪ Skipper Shane Cooper and full-back Lyon combined down the left flank to put Ropati over for a second-minute try.
right
▪ Napoleon, far from manoeuvring about the Duke's right flank, had rammed his troops into the seam between the allied armies.
▪ Papa and Margarett form the right flank of the photograph.
▪ Peter usually wore the number 11 shirt but frequently operated down the right flank.
▪ That protecting Union line once broken left my command not only on the right flank but obliquely in rear of it.
▪ In the sixth minute, Andy Impey released Ferdinand down the right flank.
▪ Karelius had stationed himself on the right flank, a little to the rear of those in the very forefront.
▪ The right flank was less well defended and the nature of the terrain complicated defences.
▪ By that evening, both his right and left flanks having been broken, Samsonov's position was untenable.
southern
▪ This is not the case, however, in the Z2 Carbonate on the southern flank of the Ringkøping-Fyn High.
▪ It has several deep canyons incising into its southern flank, and an old road running within a few miles of it.
▪ Similar reefs may also exist further westwards along the southern flank of the Mid-North Sea High.
western
▪ The western flank of this high frontier is the Golden Triangle, legendary for its opium crop and warlord law.
▪ He told me that the ozone travels up the steep canyons of the western flank on a daily basis.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ An angular unconformity recognised in the Upper Carboniferous on the flanks of the London-Brabant Massif was of particular interest in this respect.
▪ Four 109s came in on the left flank, firing from such a ridiculous range that Patterson knew the pilots were inexperienced.
▪ He lay the back of his hand against the flank.
▪ I was out on the flank with my platoon, and to my right was some high elephant grass.
▪ Similar trends in reservoir quality are noted with a detectable improvement in reservoir quality towards the basin flank.
▪ The adult male's back and flanks are azure blue, shading to yellowish on the belly.
▪ With one fierce and skilful kick of his aching foot he will mend a deep concavity in the refrigerator's flank.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
side
▪ There is usually one pointed apical papilla sometimes two or three flanked on each side by 3-4 pointed oral papillae.
▪ Scattered farmhouses, sentry telephone poles, and budding green fields flanked them on each side.
▪ Here, hardwood doors are flanked by stained-glass side panels.
▪ The façade is severe: under the portico is a Madonna and Child in Majesty flanked on either side by obelisks.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A review of the honey bees is flanked by a fascinating description of the less well known bumble bees.
▪ At length they came to another smaller gate, flanked by a gloriously lopsided storybook cottage.
▪ Canning and Lamb were flanked by police in the oak-panelled courtroom and stared straight ahead throughout the hearing, saying nothing.
▪ Further round soared the precipitous south west rockface of Baruntse, flanked by its satellite range of peaks.
▪ Occasionally, like a liner, they passed an estancia with stables and a drive flanked by poplars and sailed on.
▪ Parked outside her flat, the 325i gleams, its perfect lines embarrassing the cars flanking it.
▪ Somehow, he managed to flank Pat Buchanan on the right, to no avail.
▪ The façade is flanked by symmetric towers.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Flank

Flank \Flank\, v. i.

  1. To border; to touch.
    --Bp. Butler.

  2. To be posted on the side.

Flank

Flank \Flank\ (fl[a^][ng]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flanked (fl[a^][ng]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Flanking.] [Cf. F. flanquer. See Flank, n., and cf. Flanker, v. t.]

  1. To stand at the flank or side of; to border upon.

    Stately colonnades are flanked with trees.
    --Pitt.

  2. To overlook or command the flank of; to secure or guard the flank of; to pass around or turn the flank of; to attack, or threaten to attack; the flank of.

Flank

Flank \Flank\ (fl[a^][ng]k), n. [F. flanc, prob. fr. L. flaccus flabby, with n inserted. Cf. Flaccid, Flanch, Flange.]

  1. The fleshy or muscular part of the side of an animal, between the ribs and the hip. See Illust. of Beef.

  2. (Mil.)

    1. The side of an army, or of any division of an army, as of a brigade, regiment, or battalion; the extreme right or left; as, to attack an enemy in flank is to attack him on the side.

      When to right and left the front

      Divided, and to either flank retired.
      --Milton.

    2. (Fort.) That part of a bastion which reaches from the curtain to the face, and defends the curtain, the flank and face of the opposite bastion; any part of a work defending another by a fire along the outside of its parapet. See Illust. of Bastion.

  3. (Arch.) The side of any building.
    --Brands.

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

    Flank attack (Mil.), an attack upon the side of an army or body of troops, distinguished from one upon its front or rear.

    Flank company (Mil.), a certain number of troops drawn up on the right or left of a battalion; usually grenadiers, light infantry, or riflemen.

    Flank defense (Fort.), protection of a work against undue exposure to an enemy's direct fire, by means of the fire from other works, sweeping the ground in its front.

    Flank en potence (Mil.), any part of the right or left wing formed at a projecting angle with the line.

    Flank files, the first men on the right, and the last on the left, of a company, battalion, etc.

    Flank march, a march made parallel or obliquely to an enemy's position, in order to turn it or to attack him on the flank.

    Flank movement, a change of march by an army, or portion of one, in order to turn one or both wings of the enemy, or to take up a new position.

    Flanks of a frontier, salient points in a national boundary, strengthened to protect the frontier against hostile incursion.

    Flank patrol, detachments acting independently of the column of an army, but patrolling along its flanks, to secure it against surprise and to observe the movements of the enemy.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
flank

late Old English flanc "flank, fleshy part of the side," from Old French flanc "hip, side," from Frankish or another Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *hlanca- (cognates: Old High German (h)lanca, Middle High German lanke "hip joint," German lenken "to bend, turn aside;" Old English hlanc "loose and empty, slender, flaccid;" Old Norse hlykkr "a bend, noose, loop"), from PIE root *kleng- "to bend, turn" (see link (n.)). Showing characteristic change of Germanic hl- to Romanic fl-. The military sense is first attested 1540s. Meaning "side" of anything is by 1620s. As an adjective, "pertaining to the flank or side," 1660s. Related: Flanked; flanking.

flank

1590s (military), "to guard the flank," also, "to menace the flank, fire sideways upon," from flank (n.). Meaning "stand or be placed at the side of" is from 1650s. Related: Flanked; flanking.

Wiktionary
flank

  1. (context nautical English) Maximum (of speed). 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!''). n. 1 (context anatomy English) The flesh between the last rib and the hip; the side. 2 (context cooking English) A cut of meat from the flank of an animal. 3 (context military English) The extreme left or right edge of a military formation, army etc. 4 The side of something, in general senses. 5 The outermost strip of a road. 6 (context soccer English) The wing, one side of the pitch. v

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

Related phrases:
WordNet
flank

v. be located at the sides of something or somebody

flank

  1. n. the side of military or naval formation; "they attacked the enemy's right flank" [syn: wing]

  2. a subfigure consisting of a side of something

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

  4. the side between ribs and hipbone

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Flank

Flank may refer to:

  • Flank (anatomy), part of the abdomen
    • Flank steak, a cut of beef
    • Part of the external anatomy of a horse
  • Flank speed, a nautical term
  • Flank opening, a chess opening
  • A term in Australian rules football
  • The side of a military unit, as in a flanking maneuver
  • Flanking, a sound path in architectural acoustics
  • Flanking region, a region of DNA in directionality
Flank (anatomy)

The flank or latus is the side of the body between the rib cage and the iliac bone of the hip (below the rib cage and above the ilium).

In some contexts, it is sometimes called the lumbar region.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "flank".

The artillery attempted to unlimber and to bring their guns to bear again, but the confusion that prevailed in the crowded spot rendered this next to impossible, and long before it could be accomplished the iron hail again swept through the ranks, and two rattling volleys from their invisible foes behind the flanking abattis again flashed out.

Then, retaining only fifty men as a guard to the battery, the midshipmen ordered the rest of the defenders of the abattis to move forward among the trees on the flanks of the Russians, keeping up a constant fire, until they joined the main body in their attack on the Russian rear.

Pulling his sweating beast to a halt, he scanned the rising tiers of streets in search of an acropolis or citadel of some kind, and saw what he presumed to be the palace lying on the mountain flank at the rear of the city.

Wimbush sat flanked by Ambassador Wellington-Humphreys and General Aguinaldo on his right, and the two army Corps commanders on his left.

On the other side of the chain-link fence that flanked the road they could see the hangars that served the airfreight companies and small charter firms.

Trauerbach, Bavarian mountains tower, their well timbered flanks scattered here and there with rough slides, or opening out in long green alms, and here at evening one may sometimes see a spot of yellow moving along the bed of a half dry mountain torrent.

From stalls at the bronze feet of the Anselmian statues of Reason and Imagination flanking the steps, people hawked nuts and drinks and even green ribbons in honor of the Humanities.

The Anzac forces in the centre and the right, or southern, flank are increasingly being sucked into the left flank, thinking to reinforce the line where the fighting appears to be the fiercest.

The Avarian sentries heard him coming and let him pass into the center of the encampment, which had been hastily thrown up in the lee of a solitary hill with the slope at their backs and a ravine, not much more than a ditch, protecting their left flank.

Gentle breezes from the tower of Aiolas wafted them high above warm, scented seas, till suddenly they came upon Zeus, holding court upon double-headed Parnassus, his golden throne flanked by Apollo and the Muses on the right hand, and by ivy-wreathed Dionysus and pleasure-flushed Bacchae on the left hand.

Gentle breezes from the tower of Aiolas wafted them high above warm, scented seas, till suddenly they came upon Zeus, holding court upon double-headed Parnassus, his golden throne flanked by Apollo and the Muses on the right hand, and by ivy-wreathed Dionysus and pleasure--flushed Bacchae on the left hand.

Now this province is of peculiar importance, because the English could seize it from Baluchistan without much difficulty, and, if so, they would obtain a strong flank position to the south of our line of march, Merv-Herat, by way of Kandahar-Quetta.

Late on the night of September 19, Governor Barnett, flanked by Order of Battle71 two beefy Highway Patrol bodyguards, strode into a secret strategy meeting of the Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning in a conference room at the University Medical Center in Oxford.

So at noon on Tuesday, September 25, with James Meredith and the federals on their way, Governor Ross Barnett marched down the steps of the yellow-domed Capitol and across the street to the Woolfolk Building, flanked by a Highway Patrolman and a pack of aides.

He went fast, knowing that his careful battle line would be shredded by the oaks, but also knowing that any chance of finding an open Yankee flank was too compelling to be ignored.