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lank

[langk]
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adjective, lank·er, lank·est.
  1. (of plants) unduly long and slender: lank grass; lank, leafless trees.
  2. (of hair) straight and limp; without spring or curl.
  3. lean; gaunt; thin.
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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. 2018

Examples from the Web for lank

Historical Examples

  • The trapper slapped his lank, leather-clad thigh in high approval.

    In the Valley

    Harold Frederic

  • Perhaps the good Samaritan was lean and lank, and found it hard to live.

  • Sim cowered in a corner of the box, with his lank fingers in his long hair.

  • The colonel looked at O'Malley's lank and bony frame and smiled.

  • George, who was big and lank, and truculent in appearance, nodded.

    The Greater Power

    Harold Bindloss

British Dictionary definitions for lank

lank1

adjective
  1. long and limp
  2. thin or gaunt
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Derived Formslankly, adverblankness, noun

Word Origin

Old English hlanc loose

lank2

adjective, adverb
  1. Southern African informal a lot; a great deal
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Word Origin

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

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"]

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper