lank

[langk]

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adjective, lank·er, lank·est.

(of plants) unduly long and slender: lank grass; lank, leafless trees.

(of hair) straight and limp; without spring or curl.

lean; gaunt; thin.

Nearby words

Origin of lank

before 1000; Middle English lanc, Old English hlanc; akin to Old High German hlanca loin, side. Cf. flank

Related formslank·ly, adverblank·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lank

Her starched calico apron flared out widely over her lank knees across the doorway.
Madelon|Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
As the professor was lank, tow-haired and so near-sighted, that he peered at his pupils through spectacles, no one ever had.
A Girl Of The Limberlost|Gene Stratton Porter
With a motion of his lank shoulder he indicated the direction of the Carroll house.
The Debtor|Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
He, too, was pale, but the fire of great things burned in his eyes and his lank form took upon itself a transient majesty.
The Goose Girl|Harold MacGrath

A large, lank, muley or polled cow used to annoy me in this way when I was a dweller in a certain pastoral city.
The Galaxy|Various

British Dictionary definitions for lank

lank

adjective

long and limp

thin or gaunt

Derived Formslankly, adverblankness, noun

Word Origin for lank

Old English hlanc loose

adjective, adverb

Southern African informal a lot; a great deal

Word Origin for lank

perhaps from Afrikaans lank long

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lank

lank

adj.

Old English hlanc "loose and empty, slender, flaccid," from Proto-Germanic *khlankaz, perhaps from a root meaning "flexible" (cf. German lenken "to bend, turn aside," Old Norse hlykkr "bend, noose, loop"), from PIE root *kleng- "to bend, turn" (see link (n.)). "Some examples may be long adj. with unvoicing of g" ["Middle English Dictionary"]