*lank*

n. 1. Any void space; a void space on paper, or in any written instrument; an interval void of consciousness, action, result, etc; a void. [ 1913 Webster ]

I can not write a paper full, I used to do; and yet I will not forgive a blank of half an inch from you. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

From this time there ensues a long blank in the history of French legislation. Hallam. [ 1913 Webster ]

I was ill. I can't tell how long -- it was a blank. G. Eliot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a lottery on which no prize is indicated. [ 1913 Webster ]

In Fortune's lottery lies
A heap of blanks, like this, for one small prize. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A paper unwritten; a paper without marks or characters a blank ballot; -- especially, a paper on which are to be inserted designated items of information, for which spaces are left vacant; a bland form. [ 1913 Webster ]

The freemen signified their approbation by an inscribed vote, and their dissent by a blank. Palfrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A paper containing the substance of a legal instrument, as a deed, release, writ, or execution, with spaces left to be filled with names, date, descriptions, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The point aimed at in a target, marked with a white spot; hence, the object to which anything is directed. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let me still remain
The true blank of thine eye. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Aim; shot; range. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I have stood . . . within the blank of his displeasure
For my free speech. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A kind of base silver money, first coined in England by Henry V., and worth about 8 pence; also, a French coin of the seventeenth century, worth about 4 pence. Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Mech.) A piece of metal prepared to be made into something by a further operation, as a coin, screw, nuts. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Dominoes) A piece or division of a piece, without spots; as, the “double blank”; the “six blank.” [ 1913 Webster ]

In blank, with an essential portion to be supplied by another; as, to make out a check in blank. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blanked p. pr. & vb. n. Blanking. ] [ Cf. 3d Blanch. ] 1. To make void; to annul. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To blanch; to make blank; to damp the spirits of; to dispirit or confuse. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Each opposite that blanks the face of joy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. blanchet, OF. also blanket, a woolen waistcoat or shirt, the blanket of a printing press; prop. white woolen stuff, dim. of blanc white; blanquette a kind of white pear, fr. blanc white. See Blank, a. ] 1. A heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually of wool, and having a nap, used in bed clothing; also, a similar fabric used as a robe; or any fabric used as a cover for a horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Print.) A piece of rubber, felt, or woolen cloth, used in the tympan to make it soft and elastic. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A streak or layer of blubber in whales. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The use of blankets formerly as curtains in theaters explains the following figure of Shakespeare. Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark
To cry, “Hold, hold!” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blanket sheet, a newspaper of folio size. --
A wet blanket, anything which damps, chills, dispirits, or discour&unr_;ges. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blanketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Blanketing. ] 1. To cover with a blanket. [ 1913 Webster ]

I'll . . . blanket my loins. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To toss in a blanket by way of punishment. [ 1913 Webster ]

We'll have our men blanket 'em i' the hall. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To take the wind out of the sails of (another vessel) by sailing to windward of her. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blanket cattle. See Belted cattle, under Belted. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Law) A clause, as in a blanket mortgage or policy, that includes a group or class of things, rather than a number mentioned individually and having the burden, loss, or the like, apportioned among them. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. Cloth for blankets. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act or punishment of tossing in a blanket. [ 1913 Webster ]

That affair of the blanketing happened to thee for the fault thou wast guilty of. Smollett. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or }. One that covers a group or class of things or properties instead of one or more things mentioned individually, as where a mortgage secures various debts as a group, or subjects a group or class of different pieces of property to one general lien. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A buttonhole stitch worked wide apart on the edge of material, as blankets, too thick to hem. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

adv. 1. In a blank manner; without expression; vacuously; as, to stare blankly. G. Eliot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Directly; flatly; point blank. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being blank. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To sound with a clank. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Akin to clink, and of imitative origin; cf. G. klang sound, D. klank. Cf. Clang. ] A sharp, brief, ringing sound, made by a collision of metallic or other sonorous bodies; -- usually expressing a duller or less resounding sound than clang, and a deeper and stronger sound than clink. [ 1913 Webster ]

But not in chains to pine,
His spirit withered with tyeur clank. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Clanked p. pr. & vb. n. Clanking. ] To cause to sound with a clank; as, the prisoners clank their chains. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Without a clank. Byreon. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Arch.) The side of any building. Brands. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. That part of the acting surface of a gear wheel tooth that lies within the pitch line. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Flanked 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stately colonnades are flanked with trees. Pitt. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To border; to touch. Bp. Butler. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be posted on the side. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

They threw out flankers, and endeavored to dislodge their assailants. W. Irwing. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Flankered p. pr. & vb. n. Flankering. ] [ See Flank, v. t. ] 1. To defend by lateral fortifications. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To attack sideways. [ Obs. ] Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Lanker superl. Lankest. ] [ AS. hlanc; cf. G. lenken to turn, gelenk joint, OHG. hlanca hip, side, flank, and E. link of a chain. ] 1. Slender and thin; not well filled out; not plump; shrunken; lean. [ 1913 Webster ]

Meager and lank with fasting grown. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who would not choose . . . to have rather a lank purse than an empty brain? Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Languid; drooping. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Who, piteous of her woes, reared her lank head. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lank hair, long, thin hair. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. & t. To become lank; to make lank. [ Obs. ] Shak. G. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The condition or quality or being lanky. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a lank manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being lank. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Somewhat lank; tall, thin, bony and ungraceful. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

The lanky Dinka, nearly seven feet in height. The Century. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ . }[ From Mackinac, the State of Michigan, where blankets and other stores were distributed to the Indians. ] 1. A thick blanket formerly in common use in the western part of the United States. [ wns=2 ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. a heavy woolen cloth heavily napped and felted, often with a plaid design. [ wns=4 ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. 1. (Mil.) To go beyond, or be superior to, on the flank; to pass around or turn the flank or flanks of. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: To outmaneuver in a competition; to bypass a competitor's main defenses. [ PJC ]

‖n. [ Cf. It., Pg., & Sp. palanca, fr. L. palanga, phalanga a pole, Gr. fa`lagx. ] (Mil.) A camp permanently intrenched, attached to Turkish frontier fortresses. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. planke, OF. planque, planche, F. planche, fr. L. planca; cf. Gr. &unr_;, &unr_;, anything flat and broad. Cf. Planch. ] 1. A broad piece of sawed timber, differing from a board only in being thicker. See Board. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: That which supports or upholds, as a board does a swimmer. [ 1913 Webster ]

His charity is a better plank than the faith of an intolerant and bitter-minded bigot. Southey. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One of the separate articles in a declaration of the principles of a party or cause; as, a plank in the national platform. [ Cant ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Plank road, or
Plank way, a road surface formed of planks. [ U.S. ] --
To walk the plank, to walk along a plank laid across the bulwark of a ship, until one overbalances it and falls into the sea; -- a method of disposing of captives practiced by pirates. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Planked p. pr. & vb. n. Planking. ] 1. To cover or lay with planks; as, to plank a floor or a ship. “Planked with pine.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To lay down, as on a plank or table; to stake or pay cash; as, to plank money in a wager. [ Colloq. U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To harden, as hat bodies, by felting. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Wooden Manuf.) To splice together the ends of slivers of wool, for subsequent drawing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Planked shad, shad split open, fastened to a plank, and roasted before a wood fire. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of laying planks; also, planks, collectively; a series of planks in place, as the wooden covering of the frame of a vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of splicing slivers. See Plank, v. t., 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Shipbuilding) The course of plank laid horizontally over the timberheads of a vessel's frame. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. plagto`n, neut. of plagto`s wandering, pla`zesqai to wander. ] (Biol.) All the animals and plants, taken collectively, which live at or near the surface of salt or fresh waters. -- Plank*ton"ic a. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

n. [ F. point point + blanc white. ] 1. The white spot on a target, at which an arrow or other missile is aimed. [ Obs. ] Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mil.) (a) With all small arms, the second point in which the natural line of sight, when horizontal, cuts the trajectory. (b) With artillery, the point where the projectile first strikes the horizontal plane on which the gun stands, the axis of the piece being horizontal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Directed in a line toward the object aimed at; aimed directly toward the mark. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, direct; plain; unqualified; -- said of language; as, a point-blank assertion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Point-blank range, the extent of the apparent right line of a ball discharged. --
Point-blank shot, the shot of a gun pointed directly toward the object to be hit. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a point-blank manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

To sin point-blank against God's word. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]