FLANKS Synonyms: 51 Similar and Opposite Words

flanks 1 of 2

noun

plural of flank

as in sides

a place, space, or direction away from or beyond a central point or line painted the name of the ship along its flank

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

flanks

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of flank

as in adjoins

to be adjacent to the guards flank the center on a football team's offensive line

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of flanks

Noun

With right-backs Trippier and Emil Krafth having already departed, Newcastle require depth on both flanks — beyond Burn and Tino Livramento switching sides, there is no natural senior deputy for Hall — and bringing in a player who is comfortable playing in either position would be beneficial. —

Chris Waugh, New York Times, 12 June 2026 Capable of running at defenders, cutting and crossing on the flanks and going at defenders in the box, his success is the Americans’ success. —

Julian Cardillo, Boston Herald, 9 June 2026 In recent decades, the traditional American story has come under sustained attack from both flanks. —

Yoni Appelbaum, The Atlantic, 8 June 2026 The deposits that blanketed the volcanoes’ steep flanks were critical clues, Preine said. —

Quanta Magazine, 26 May 2026 At the nose is a pronounced S-duct directing so much airflow that the wipers had to be vertically configured at the flanks of the windshield. —

Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 25 May 2026 At Dolce & Gabbana, Cantino flanks Alfonso Dolce, chairman and CEO. —

Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 25 May 2026 Naegohyang played aggressively out of the gate, pressing Suwon’s defense early with long passes and runs on the flanks, but struggled to finish and had an offside goal disallowed in the fourth minute. —

ABC News, 20 May 2026 And given the challenges from both left and right, our best hope is to strengthen a political center that brings together moderates who reject the ideologues on their flanks. —

Joshua M. Davidson, New York Daily News, 11 May 2026

Verb

The park flanks a tiny stretch of Table Rock Lake, a serpentine reservoir with more than 745 miles of shoreline. —

Julia Sayers Gokhale, Midwest Living, 17 Apr. 2026 This short out-and-back route is the perfect recovery run, with relatively flat terrain that flanks the river. —

Kristine Thomason, Outside, 9 Mar. 2026 But Hawley flanks the familiar creature from the movies with a variety of new monsters that get unleashed in the Maginot crash. —

Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 5 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for flanks

Noun

The Targaryen civil war has been a bit of a slow burn so far, though both sides of the family have suffered major casualties.

— Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2026
But the chances have been few and far between for both sides.

— Andrew Greif, NBC news, 19 June 2026