Meanings
present singular third person outflanks · participle present outflanking · participle past outflanked · past outflanked · alternative out-flank
- transitiveTo gain a tactical advantage over (a competitor, for example).
Unscrupulous members offered special discounts, illegal rebates, and unauthorized underquotations to outflank their conference partners, and blamed their agents or 'invented' competition to justify these tactics.
1977, Desmond Christopher Martin Platt, Business Imperialism, 1840-1930, page 1481 more example
Few expect the unrest to stop anytime soon. The government may hope to outflank the protest movement by painting them as unwilling to accept compromise, but even some of Lam’s allies have publicly said that the withdrawal was too little, too late.
2019 September 4, James Griffith, “Hong Kong government’s attempt to outflank protesters is doomed to fail”, in CNN
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*úd
- Proto-Germanic*ūt
- Proto-Germanic*ūt-
- Old Englishūt-
- Middle Englishut-
- Englishout-
- Englishflank
- Englishoutflank
Translations
Bulgarian обхождам
- обхождам (obhoždam)to maneuver around and behind
Finnish koukata
- koukatato maneuver around and behind
French déborder
- déborderto maneuver around and behind
Swedish överflygla
- överflyglato maneuver around and behind
Welsh ystlysu, gorasgellu
- ystlysuto maneuver around and behind
- gorasgelluto maneuver around and behind
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
outflank. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outflank
“outflank.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outflank. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “outflank,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outflank.
Source: outflank on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.