# flange

> English word · Noun · IPA /flænd͡ʒ/ · frequency rank #31,986

## Definitions
1. An external or internal rib or rim, used either to add strength or to hold something in place.
2. The projecting edge of a rigid or semi-rigid component.
3. An ability in a role-playing game which is not commonly available, overpowered or arbitrarily imposed by the referees.
4. The vulva.
5. A group of baboons.
6. The electronic sound distortion produced by a flanger.

## Etymology
From dialectal English flange (“to project”), flanch (“a projection”), from Middle French flanche, from Old French flanche (“flank, side”), from Frankish *hlanka, from Proto-Germanic *hlankō (“bend, curve; side, flank”). See flank. As a term for a group of baboons, it was popularized in the comedy TV series Not the Nine O'Clock News.

## Easily confused with
- **flank** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flange-vs-flank)
- **flare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flange-vs-flare)
- **fling** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flange-vs-fling)
- **flung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flange-vs-flung)
- **France** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flange-vs-france)
- **fringe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flange-vs-fringe)
- **flanked** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flange-vs-flanked)
- **flannel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flange-vs-flannel)
- **flanker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flange-vs-flanker)
- **flag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flag-vs-flange)
- **fang** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fang-vs-flange)
- **flags** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flags-vs-flange)
- **flame** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flame-vs-flange)
- **flake** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flake-vs-flange)
- **Flagg** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flagg-vs-flange)
- **fiancé** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fiance-vs-flange)
- **flagged** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flagged-vs-flange)

## Common misspellings (9)
`falnge`, `fflange`, `flagne`, `flaneg`, `flangge`, `flannge`, `fllange`, `flnage`, `lfange`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/flange