Nearby Words

lank

[langk] Origin

lank

[langk]
adjective, -er, -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.

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

lank·ly, adverb
lank·ness, noun
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Lank is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
Collins
World English Dictionary
lank1 (læŋk)
 
adj
1.  long and limp
2.  thin or gaunt
 
[Old English hlanc loose]
 
'lankly1
 
adv
 
'lankness1
 
n

lank2 (læŋk)
 
adj, —adv
informal (South African) a lot; a great deal
 
[perhaps from Afrikaans lank long]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

lank
O.E. hlanc "loose and empty, slender, flaccid," from P.Gmc. *khlankaz, perhaps from a root meaning "flexible" (cf. Ger. lenken "to bend, turn aside").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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