Skip to main content
PlainSpell

flank

UK /flænk/verb, noun, adjective

flank is spelled F-L-A-N-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.4 times per million words in written English, the 12,216th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, flank means “To attack the flank(s) of” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in flank?

Letters5: F-L-A-N-K
Syllables1
In writing4.4 times per million words; the 12,216th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is flank?

Flank appears 4.4 times per million words in written English, the 12,216th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce flank?

  • UK /flænk/
  • British /flaŋk/
  • Australia /flæːnk/

Flank has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-flank.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with flank?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as flank from its last stressed vowel (/ænk/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of flank

  • flanks present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • flanking participle, present
  • flanked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does flank mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To attack the flank(s) of.

  2. 2

    To defend the flank(s) of.

  3. 3

    To place to the side(s) of.

  4. 4

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

noun

  1. 1

    The lateral flesh between the last rib and the hip.

    Holonym: side

  2. 2

    A cut of meat from the flank of an animal.

  3. 3

    The extreme left or right edge of a military formation, army etc.

  4. 4

    The sides of a bastion perpendicular to the wall from which the bastion projects.

  5. 5

    The side of something, in general senses.

  6. 6

    Either of the two pockets located on the seat of a pair of pants.

    I took the quarter and hid it in my right flank.

  7. 7

    An ideological faction within a political party.

    Ford survived a primary challenge in 1976 from the right flank of the Republican Party by Ronald Reagan.

  8. 8

    The outermost strip of a road.

adjective

  1. 1

    USMaximum. 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!

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Flank in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germanin der Flanke angreifen (to attack the flank(s)), flankieren (to place to the side(s) of something), Flanke (anatomy: flesh between the last rib and the hip), Seite (side of something)
Portugueseflanquear (to attack the flank(s)), flanco (anatomy: flesh between the last rib and the hip), ladear (to be placed to the side(s) of something)
Spanishflanquear (to attack the flank(s)), costado (anatomy: flesh between the last rib and the hip), estar flanqueado, estar al flanco, ladear (to be placed to the side(s) of something), flanco (edge of military formation)
Frenchflanc (anatomy: flesh between the last rib and the hip), flanquer (to defend the flank(s)), flanchet (cut of meat)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does flank come from?

From Late Middle English flanc, from Late Old English flanc (“flank”), from Old French flanc, of Germanic origin, probably Frankish *hlanca, from Proto-West Germanic *hlanku (“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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after flank