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.
To mitigate natural-disaster risk, Superior bought timberland in other states, but market forces have been hard to outflank.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
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
“It’s sound, you’re not going to outflank them or out-scheme them.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2021
Why had it not been possible to outflank them in some way?
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
