Flank , v. i. 1. To
border; to touch. Bp. Butler.
2. To be posted on the side.
Flank (flă&nsm;k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flanked (flă&nsm;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 (flă&nsm;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.)
(a) 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.
(b) (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.
Hear it pronounced