Word Study
lank
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Adjective lank has 2 senses
CIDE DICTIONARY
lank, a. [AS. hlanc; cf. G. lenken to turn, gelenk joint, OHG. hlanca hip, side, flank, and E. link of a chain.].
- Slender and thin; not well filled out; not plump; shrunken; lean. [1913 Webster]"Meager and lank with fasting grown." [1913 Webster]"Who would not choose . . . to have rather a lank purse than an empty brain?" [1913 Webster]
- Languid; drooping. [1913 Webster]"Who, piteous of her woes, reared her lank head." [1913 Webster]
lank, v. i. & t.
To become lank; to make lank. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
lank, adj.
1 (of hair, grass, etc.) long, limp, and straight.
2 thin and tall.
3 shrunken; spare.
1 (of hair, grass, etc.) long, limp, and straight.
2 thin and tall.
3 shrunken; spare.
Derivative
lankly adv. lankness n.
Etymology
OE hlanc f. Gmc: cf. FLANK, LINK(1)
ROGET THESAURUS
lank
Thinness
N narrowness, thinness, narrowness, closeness, exility, exiguity, line, hair's breadth, finger's breadth, strip, streak, vein, monolayer, epitaxial deposition, thinness, tenuity, emaciation, macilency, marcor, shaving, slip, thread paper, skeleton, shadow, anatomy, spindleshanks, lantern jaws, mere skin and bone, middle constriction, stricture, neck, waist, isthmus, wasp, hourglass, ridge, ghaut, ghat, pass, ravine, narrowing, coarctation, angustation, tapering, contraction, narrow, close, slender, thin, fine, thread-like, finespun, gossamer, paper-thin, taper, slim, slight-made, scant, scanty, spare, delicate, incapacious, contracted, unexpanded &c (expand), slender as a thread, emaciated, lean, meager, gaunt, macilent, lank, lanky, weedy, skinny, scrawny slinky, starved, starveling, herring gutted, worn to a shadow, lean as a rake, thin as a lath, thin as a whipping post, thin as a wafer, hatchet-faced, lantern-jawed, attenuated, shriveled, extenuated, tabid, marcid, barebone, rawboned, monomolecular.
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