flanker
UK /ˈflæŋkə/ · US /ˈflæŋkɚ/ noun, verb
Forms flankers flankering flankered
- noun (rugby) A player who plays in the back row of the scrum.
- noun (American football) A wide receiver who lines up behind the line of scrimmage.
- noun (military) A fortification or soldier projecting so as to defend another work or to command the flank of an assailing body.
- noun (archaeology) One of a pair of large upright monoliths erected on either end of the recumbent, in recumbent stone circles of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and the counties of Cork and Kerry in south-west of Ireland.
- noun (business, marketing) A usually lower-end brand or product introduced in order to target competitors and protect a company's main market share.
- noun (perfumery) Newly created perfume that shares some attributes of an already existing perfume.
- verb To defend by lateral fortifications.
- verb To attack sideways.
Synonyms
Etymology
From flank + -er. The verb is from the noun (sense 3).
Webster’s 1913
- noun One who, or that which, flanks, as a skirmisher or a body of troops sent out upon the flanks of an army toguard a line of march, or a fort projecting so as to command the side of an assailing body.
- verb To defend by lateral fortifications. [Obs.] Sir T. Herbert.
- verb To attack sideways. [Obs.] Evelyn.
Etymology [See Flank, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “flanker”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details