verb
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to go around the flank of (an opposing army)
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to get the better of
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of outflank
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But Novo Nordisk then took the unusual step of trying to outflank Pfizer, setting off a bidding war.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 8, 2025
The US gains allies in its quest to outflank the Chinese in the field of AI and compute - the Gulf nations get a powerful partner in their search for a replacement for oil revenues.
From BBC • Jul. 30, 2025
I watched red leaf monkeys and macaques scampering to outflank one another in the canopy.
From National Geographic • Jan. 23, 2024
“L.A.’s bureaucracy is tough. You have to finagle. You have to cajole. You have to outflank them to get them to do what you think needs to be done.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2023
By the autumn of 1914, fighting on the Western Front—Belgium and France—had shifted back to the north as the opposing armies maneuvered to outflank one another.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
