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Flank vs Shank - What's the difference?

flank | shank |

As adjectives the difference between flank and shank

is that flank is 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!) while shank is bad.

As nouns the difference between flank and shank

is that flank is the flesh between the last rib and the hip; the side while shank is the part of the leg between the knee and the ankle.

As verbs the difference between flank and shank

is that flank is to attack the flank(s) of something while shank is to travel on foot.

flank

English

Adjective

(-)
  • (nautical) 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! ).
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (anatomy) The flesh between the last rib and the hip; the side.
  • (cooking) A cut of meat from the flank of an animal.
  • (military) The extreme left or right edge of a military formation, army etc.
  • The side of something, in general senses.
  • * 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), 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.
  • The outermost strip of a road.
  • (soccer) The wing, one side of the pitch.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=January 23 , author=Alistair Magowan , title=Blackburn 2 - 0 West Brom , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=The hosts also had Paul Robinson to thank for a string of saves, three of them coming against Jerome Thomas, who gave Michel Salgado a torrid time down the left flank .}}
  • 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

    Coordinate terms

    * (cut of meat from the flank of an animal) fajita

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To attack the flank(s) of something.
  • To defend the flank(s) of something.
  • To place to the side(s) of something.
  • * Pitt
  • Stately colonnades are flanked with trees.
  • To be placed to the side(s) of something (usually in terms of two objects, one on each side.)
  • shank

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (slang) Bad.
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • The part of the leg between the knee and the ankle.
  • * Shakespeare
  • His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide / For his shrunk shank .
  • Meat from that part of an animal.
  • A straight, narrow part of an object, such as a key or an anchor; shaft; stem.
  • The handle of a pair of shears, connecting the ride to the neck.
  • The center part of a fishhook between the eye and the hook, the 'hook' being the curved part that bends toward the point.
  • A protruding part of an object, by which it is or can be attached.
  • The metal part on a curb bit that falls below the mouthpiece of the bit, which length controls the severity of the leverage action of the bit, and to which the reins of the bridle are attached.
  • (sports) A poorly played golf shot in which the ball is struck by the part of the club head that connects to the shaft. See thin,fat,toe.
  • (slang) An improvised stabbing weapon.
  • Any of several species of Old World wading bird in the genus Tringa that are primarily distinguished by their brightly colored legs.
  • A loop forming an eye to a button.
  • (architecture) The space between two channels of the Doric triglyph.
  • (Gwilt)
  • (metalworking) A large ladle for molten metal, fitted with long bars for handling it.
  • (printing, dated) The body of a type.
  • (shoemaking) The part of the sole beneath the instep connecting the broader front part with the heel.
  • Flat-nosed pliers, used by opticians for nipping off the edges of pieces of glass to make them round.
  • Derived terms

    * greenshank * umbroshank * redshank * shank-nag * shank-weary * shankbone - the bone of the foreleg * shanks' nag * shanks' mare * shanks' pony * Longshanks

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic, Ulster) to travel on foot
  • (slang) to stab, especially with an improvised blade
  • (slang) to remove another's pants, especially in jest; to depants
  • (transitive, chiefly, golf, football) to hit or kick the ball in an unintended direction
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=September 28 , author=Tom Rostance , title=Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Marouane Chamakh then spurned a great chance to kill the game off when he ran onto Andrey Arshavin's lofted through ball but shanked his shot horribly across the face of goal.}}
  • To fall off, as a leaf, flower, or capsule, on account of disease affecting the supporting footstalk; usually followed by off.
  • (Darwin)

    Anagrams

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