different between flank vs flack

English

Alternative forms

• flanck (obsolete)

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 *hlank? (“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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flæ?k/
• Rhymes: -æ?k

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.
   • c. 1728, Christopher Pitt, Epistle to Mr. Spence

     Stately colonnades are flank'd with trees.

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

Translations

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.
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

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.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flæk/
• Rhymes: -æk
• Homophone: flak

Etymology 1

From Middle English flacken (“to palpitate, flutter”), from Proto-Germanic *flakk?n (“to swerve”), from Proto-Indo-European *ple?-, which could be related to Ancient Greek ????? (pláz?, “to turn away from”).

Akin to Middle Dutch vlacken (“to flicker, flash, sparkle”), Danish flakke (“to wander”), Swedish flacka (“to rove, rove about, ramble”), Icelandic flakka (“to move”). Compare also Icelandic flaka (“to flap, hang loose”), Swedish flaxa (“to flap, flutter”).

Verb

flack (third-person singular simple present flacks, present participle flacking, simple past and past participle flacked)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To flutter; palpitate.
2. (intransitive, Britain dialectal) To hang loosely; flag.
3. (transitive, Britain dialectal) To beat by flapping.

Etymology 2

Unknown

Noun

flack (plural flacks)

1. (Canada, US) A publicist, a publicity agent.
   • 1999, Patricia Cornwell, The Southern Cross, page 233

     Thought you were flack," she said.

     "I'm not flack."

     "All right, P.R., a reporter, a novelist."

Verb

flack (third-person singular simple present flacks, present participle flacking, simple past and past participle flacked)

1. (Canada, US) To publicise, to promote.

Etymology 3

Variant of flak.

Noun

flack (countable and uncountable, plural flacks)

1. Alternative spelling of flak.

Further reading

• flack at OneLook Dictionary Search
• flack in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Falck