FLANK, verb (common).—1. To crack a whip; also, to hit a mark with the lash of one.
1830. Sir E. B. LYTTON, Paul Clifford (ed. 1854), p. 18. He then, taking up a driving whip, FLANKED a fly from the opposite wall.
1833. 'An Anglo-sapphic Ode' (WHIBLEY, Cap and Gown, p. 136). Kicks up a row, gets drunk, or FLANKS a tandem whip out of window.
2. (colloquial).—To deliver—a blow or a retort; to push; to hustle; to quoit (Shakspeare). Fr., flanquer: as in flanquer à la porte, and Je lui at flanqué un fameux coup de pied au cul!
A PLATE OF THIN FLANK, subs. phr. (common).—A 'sixpenny cut' off the joint. See N. Twill in Fancy Too Late for Dinner.
To FLANK THE WHOLE BOTTLE, verb. phr. (American soldiers').—To dodge, i.e., to OUTFLANK, to achieve by strategy. For synonyms, see STICK.
1871. DE VERE, Americanisms, p.286. When the men wished to escape the attention of pickets and guards by slipping past them, they said they FLANKED them; drill, and detail, and every irksome duty was FLANKED, when it could be avoided by some cunning trick. Soon, however, honesty itself was thus treated, and the poor farmer was FLANKED out of his pig and his poultry, and not infrequently even the comrade out of his pipe and tobacco, if not his rations. The height of strategy was employed in these various flank manœuvres, when the Commissary could be made to surrender some of his whiskey, and thus it came about, in the South at least, that to FLANK THE WHOLE BOTTLE was a phrase expressive of superlative cunning and brilliant success.
FLANKER, subs, (common).—A
blow; a retort; a kick. Cf.,
FLANK, sense 1.
FLANKEY, subs, (common).—The
posteriors. For synonyms, see
BLIND CHEEKS AND MONOCULAR
EYEGLASS.
1848. DUNCOMBE, Sinks of London, s.v.
FLANNEL. See HOT FLANNEL.
FLANNELS. TO GET ONE'S FLANNELS,
verb. phr. (schools').—To
get a place in the school football
or cricket teams, or in the boats.
Cf., 'to get one's colours,' or
'one's blue.'
FLAP, subs, (thieves').—1. Sheet-lead
used for roofing. Fr., doussin;
noir. Cf., BLUEY.
2. (old).—A blow.
1539. DAVID LYNDSAY, Thrie Estaitis. Works [Laing, 1879], ii. 73. And to begin the play, tak thair ane flap.
Verb (thieves').—1. To rob; to swindle. For synonyms, see PRIG AND STICK.
2. (common).—To pay; 'to fork out.' Cf., FLAP THE DIMMOCK.
3. (venery).—To possess a woman. For synonyms, see GREENS AND RIDE.
TO FLAP A JAY, verb. phr. (thieves').—To swindle a greenhorn; to SELL A PUP (q.v.).
1885. Daily Telegraph, Aug. 18th, p. 3., col. 1. He and three others of the 'division' had 'cut up' £70 between them, obtained by FLAPPING A JAY, which, rendered into intelligible English, means plundering a simple-minded person.
TO FLAP THE DIMMOCK, verb phr. (common).—To pay. [FROM FLAP, a verb of motion + DIMMOCK = money]. Cf, FLAP.
FLAPDOODLE, subs, (colloquial).—1. Transparent nonsense; "kid."
