lankadj.n.
/laŋk/, U.S. /læŋk/ A. adj.† 3. Drooping, languid. Obsolete. rare.
1. Loose from emptiness; not filled out or plump; shrunken, spare; flabby, hollow.† d. of immaterial things. Also figurative. Obsolete.
a. of the animal body or its parts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > [adjective] > thin
leanc1000
thinc1000
swonga1300
meagrea1398
empty?c1400
(as) thin (also lean, rank) as a rakec1405
macilent?a1425
rawc1425
gauntc1440
to be skin and bone (also bones)c1450
leany?a1475
swampc1480
scarrya1500
pinched1514
extenuate1528
lean-fleshed1535
carrion-lean1542
spare1548
lank1553
carrion1565
brawn-fallen1578
raw-bone1590
scraggeda1591
thin-bellied1591
rake-lean1593
bare-boned1594
forlorn1594
Lented1594
lean-looked1597
shotten herring1598
spiny1598
starved1598
thin-belly1598
raw-boned1600
larbar1603
meagry?1603
fleshless1605
scraggy1611
ballow1612
lank-leana1616
skinnya1616
hagged1616
scraggling1616
carrion-like1620
extenuated1620
thin-gutted1620
haggard1630
scrannel1638
leanisha1645
skeletontal1651
overlean1657
emaciated1665
slank1668
lathy1672
emaciate1676
nithered1691
emacerated1704
lean-looking1713
scranky1735
squinny-gut(s)1742
mauger1756
squinny1784
angular1789
etiolated1791
as thin (also lean) as a rail1795
wiry1808
slink1817
scranny1820
famine-hollowed1822
sharp featured1824
reedy1830
scrawny1833
stringy1833
lean-ribbeda1845
skeletony1852
famine-pinched1856
shelly1866
flesh-fallen1876
thinnish1884
all horn and hide1890
unfurnished1893
bone-thin1899
underweight1899
asthenic1925
skin-and-bony1935
skinny-malinky1940
skeletal1952
pencil-neck1960
OE Judith 205 Þæs se hlanca gefeah wulf in walde, ond se wanna hrefn, wælgifre fugel.
1553 J. Withals Shorte Dict. f. 85/1 Lanke or thinne in the body, as thei that be leane, strigosus, macilentus.
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lxxv. f. 204v And that oftentimes is the foulest & worst fauourd, bycause he is ouerwearied and lankest.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iii. 61 With lanck wan visadge.
1603 T. Dekker et al. Patient Grissill sig. Bv In the leane armes of lancke necessitie.
1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island xii. xxxii. 166 Long sootie hair Fill'd up his lank cheeks.
1648 Hunting of Fox 21 They must looke to goe out as lank and lean as they came in.
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry V cci, in Poems (1878) IV. 151 A Tiger, (whom lanke Ravin fires To sett vpon the Herds).
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) i. xiv. 37 Because any Artery being tied, is full, and swells towards the Heart, but is empty, and lank towards the Veins.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 28. ⁋6 The Men of the Service look like Spectres, with long Sides, and lank Cheeks.
1713 R. Steele Englishman No. 40. 261 A lank Monsieur with a huge Fruz Wigg,..is France in little.
1727 J. Gay Fables I. xxiii. 79 Cats, who lank with hunger mew'd.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1779 II. 282 The bard was a lank bony figure, with short black hair.
1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 354 He was a huge feeder, and though lank, had the dilating powers of an Anaconda.
1848 A. Jameson Sacred & Legendary Art I. 40 This lank, formal angel is from the Greco-Italian school of the eleventh century.
b. of vegetable growth. Of grass: Long and flaccid. †Of a harvest: Meagre, scanty.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > insufficiency > [adjective] > limited in quantity or amount > scanty or meagre
feeblec1275
straita1300
thinc1374
threadbarec1412
exile?1440
silly?a1500
pilled1526
thinnish1540
carrion-lean1542
carrion1565
exiled?1577
penurious1594
unnourishing1605
starveling1611
meagre1612
short-handed1622
lanka1644
scrimp1681
strigose1708
skimp1775
skimping1775
spare1813
shy1821
scrimping1823
skimpy1842
slim1852
scrappy1985
minnowy1991
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > herb or herbaceous plant > [adjective] > full of or abounding in herbaceous plants > of or relating to grass > rough, tufty, thick, etc.
speary1577
three-piled1605
spiny1607
lanka1644
tussocky1805
a1644 F. Quarles Solomons Recantation (1645) xi. 75 Cast not lank grain upon too lean a ground.
1658 R. Allestree Pract. Christian Graces; or, Whole Duty of Man xvii. §11. 369 If by the sparingness of our Almes, we make ourselves a lank harvest hereafter.
a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 36 Here is barren dry sandy land as in Sherwood Forest, like Bowden Downs, save longer lank grass.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 81 Lest the lank Ears in length of Stem be lost. View more context for this quotation
1884 R. C. Praed Zéro ii These lank, sickly gum-trees make me feel quite sentimental.
c. of inanimate things, esp. of a bag, bladder or purse. ? Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > [adjective] > empty
idlec825
toomOE
lankc1000
emptyOE
leera1250
i-lerc1275
vain1382
void1390
bare1399
vacanta1400
i-voidec1415
hollow1600
vake1600
clear1607
inane1662
blank1748
viduous1855
unchargeda1861
c1000 Ags. Ps. cxviii. 83 Ic eom nu geworden werum anlicast, swa þu on hrime setest hlance cylle.
c1571 E. Campion Two Bks. Hist. Ireland (1963) ii. x. 150 If your bagges be full wheare theirs weare lanke.
1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus iv. iii 1934 Drinking a long lank watching candles smoake.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. iii. 132 The Commons hast thou rackt, the Clergies Bags Are lanke and leane with thy Extortions. View more context for this quotation
1660 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mechanicall xiii. 84 A great Bladder well tyed at the Neck, but very lank.
1719 T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth I. 272 My Purse..is but lank.
1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd I. ii. x. 156 A day at this time was precious to my light and lank purse.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adjective] > weak (of immaterial things)
thin?c1225
wateryc1230
feeble1393
wash1548
waterish1549
fadea1554
limping1577
dilute1605
lank1607
languid1622
water gruel1630
invalid1635
sinewless1644
exsanguine1647
flaccid1647
diluted1681
wishy-washy1693
tiffany1694
foible1715
rickety1738
faintly1771
unrobust1775
pale1820
peely-wally1832
muscleless1841
weakling1848
weedy?1858
feeblose1882
papery1924
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > of little importance or trivial
eathlyc890
lighteOE
littleOE
small?c1225
singlec1449
easy1474
triflous1509
naughty1526
slender1530
slight1548
shrimpish1549
slipper1567
truanta1572
toyous1581
trivious1583
mean1585
silly1587
nicea1594
puny?1594
puisne1598
pusill1599
whindling1601
sapless1602
non-significant1603
poor1603
unsignificant1603
flea-bite1605
perishing1605
lank1607
weightless1610
fonda1616
penny farthing1615
triviala1616
unweighty1621
transitory1637
twattling1651
inconsiderate1655
unserious1655
nugal1656
small drink1656
slighty1662
minute1668
paddling1679
snitling1682
retail1697
Lilliputian1726
vain1731
rattletrap1760
peppercornish1762
peppercorn1791
underling1804
venial1806
lightweight1809
floccinaucical1826
small-bore1833
minified1837
trantlum1838
piffling1848
tea-tabular1855
potty1860
whipping-snapping1861
tea-gardeny1862
quiddling1863
twaddling1863
fidgeting1865
penny ante1865
feather-weighted1870
jerkwater1877
midget1879
mimsy1880
shirttail1881
two-by-four1885
footle1894
skittery1905
footery1929
Mickey Mouse1931
chickenshit1934
minoritized1945
marginal1952
marginalized1961
tea-party1961
little league1962
marginalizing1977
minnowy1991
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective]
feeblec1400
colourlessc1425
flagging1540
pithless1555
blanched1570
toothless1592
unpointed1604
unsinewed1604
jejune1615
low-pitched1622
unsinewy?1623
macilent1624
flaccid1647
insinewy1653
unsubstanceda1658
incogent1667
pointless1673
languida1677
enervatea1704
unaccentuated1716
unnervate1725
lank1729
unforcible1754
nerveless1763
weak1771
flabby1793
slip-slop1814
tinkling1822
exsanguinea1834
twittery1840
slipshod1842
under-coloured1870
shaftless1881
thin1890
unaccented1893
wimpish1925
wimp1979
1607 T. Walkington Optick Glasse 27 His conceit is as lancke as a shotten Herrin.
1613 T. Adams White Deuil 26 That subtle winnower..would keepe the soule..lanke with ignorance.
1622 ‘O. Baldi’ Let. 9 Dec. in H. Wotton Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (1685) 248 The Empire grew lank and the Popedom tumorous.
1638 E. Reynolds Serm. Peace Church 43 Men of greene heads, of crude and lanke abilities.
c1650 (c1515) Sc. Field (Percy) 269 in J. W. Hales & F. J. Furnivall Bp. Percy's Folio MS (1867) I. 226 Now lanke is their losse, our lord itt amend.
1663 J. Spencer Disc. Prodigies (1665) 111 Tempted to blow out with their quills a lean and lank occurrence.
1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 360 It is but a lank business to take notice of one single Statue for Idolatry.
1729 Young Imperium Pelagi Pref. Lank writing is what I think ought most to be declined.
1780 W. Cowper Table Talk 532 From him who rears a poem lank and long.
2. Of hair: Without curl or wave, straight and flat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [adjective] > straight
uncurled1596
lanky1670
lankish1689
lank1690
straight1748
sleeking1827
uncrisped1827
uncurling1854
curlless1861
1690 T. Shadewell Amorous Bigotte iii. i Thick lips and lank flaxen hair.
1727 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Oeconomique (Dublin ed.) at Hair To make that which curls too much, lanker, anoint it thoroughly..with Oil of Lillies.
1776 F. Burney Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1990) II. 204 Two of her Curls came quite Unpinned, & fell lank on One of her shoulders.
1835 N. P. Willis Pencillings I. xxiv. 168 High cheek bones, lank hair, and heavy shoulders.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. i. 82 The extreme Puritan was at once known..by..his lank hair.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action of placing or holding body in relaxed posture > [adjective] > specific part of body
relaxed?a1425
lank1637
slack1667
1637 J. Milton Comus 29 Nereus..Piteous of her woes reard [printed reatd] her lanke head.
B. n.† 1. Leanness, scarcity, thinness. Obsolete.Only in proverbial phrase. (See quots.)
ΚΠ
1655 T. Fuller Hist. Univ. Cambr. iii. 47 in Church-hist. Brit. A Bank and a Lank of Charitie.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Shrop. 10 This Ioseph collected from the present plenty, that a future famine would follow, as in this kind, a Lank constantly attendeth a Bank.
1699 A. Boyer Royal Dict. (at cited word) A Lank makes a Bank. Ce Proverbe s'applique aux Femmes qui déchéent dès le moment qu'elles sont enceintes jusqu'à ce que leur ventre commence à lever.
2. A lanky or lean person.
ΚΠ
1881 E. Lynn Linton My Love! III. 212 You are not such a peaky lank as you were.
Compounds
C1. Chiefly parasynthetic.
lank-bellied adj.
ΚΠ
1691 London Gaz. No. 2559/4 Stoln.., a black Gelding..lank Belly'd, and a switch Tail.
lank-cheeked adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > cheek > [adjective] > types of cheek > having
blob-cheeked1552
bright-cheekeda1560
plum-cheeked1598
chub-faced1602
white-cheekedc1602
chuffy1611
lantern-jawed1699
lockram-jawed1699
blubber-cheeked1711
chub-cheeked1715
lank-jawed1778
apple-faced1781
chubby-faced1826
apple-cheeked1827
lank-cheeked1838
bag-cheeked1839
poke-cheeked1843
maiden-cheeked1866
1838 J. Grant Sketches London 184 A little, lank-cheeked, sharp-eyed man.
lank-eared adj.
ΚΠ
1820 J. Keats Hyperion: a Fragm. i, in Lamia & Other Poems 158 O lank-eared Phantoms of black-weeded pools.
lank-haired adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [adjective] > straight > having
lank-haired1687
uncurled1799
straight-haired1841
leiotrichous1855
1687 London Gaz. No. 2207/4 T.L. and C.L., middle-sized men..lank-hair'd.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 370 Puritan coffee houses..where lankhaired men discussed election and reprobation through their noses.
lank-jawed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > cheek > [adjective] > types of cheek > having
blob-cheeked1552
bright-cheekeda1560
plum-cheeked1598
chub-faced1602
white-cheekedc1602
chuffy1611
lantern-jawed1699
lockram-jawed1699
blubber-cheeked1711
chub-cheeked1715
lank-jawed1778
apple-faced1781
chubby-faced1826
apple-cheeked1827
lank-cheeked1838
bag-cheeked1839
poke-cheeked1843
maiden-cheeked1866
1778 F. Burney Evelina III. xxi. 233 Is he as lank-jawed as ever?
1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons I. ii. i. 165 Our red-faced yeomen, alas, are fast sinking into lank-jawed mechanics.
lank-legged adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > leg > [adjective] > types of > having
jamby?a1400
well-legged1566
spindle-shankedc1600
spindle-shank1604
post-legged1608
splay-legged1638
duck-legged1650
stalk-legged1659
long-limbed1660
sharp-shinned1704
spindle-legged1710
leggy1776
red-legged1817
flamingo-legged1862
thick-legged1873
split-up1874
pin-legged1884
lank-legged1906
straddly1921
1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xiii. 172 Levi Goss..a lank-legged, ungainly object.
1921 W. de la Mare Veil & Other Poems 56 Like lank-legged grasshoppers in June-tide meadows.
1937 W. de la Mare This Year, Next Year And out of window gaze At lank-legged Peggy.
lank-sided adj.
ΚΠ
1743 R. Blair Grave 19 The lank-sided Miser..Meanly stole..From Back and Belly too, their proper Cheer.
lank-winged adj.
ΚΠ
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry V lxviii, in Poems (1878) IV. 118 Where lanke-wing'd Puttocks hope to catch their Prey.
C2.
lank-blown adj.
ΚΠ
1785 B. Franklin Let. 28 Aug. in Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. (1786) 2 3 A lank blown bladder..laid before a fire will soon swell, grow tight and burst.
lank-lean adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > [adjective] > thin
leanc1000
thinc1000
swonga1300
meagrea1398
empty?c1400
(as) thin (also lean, rank) as a rakec1405
macilent?a1425
rawc1425
gauntc1440
to be skin and bone (also bones)c1450
leany?a1475
swampc1480
scarrya1500
pinched1514
extenuate1528
lean-fleshed1535
carrion-lean1542
spare1548
lank1553
carrion1565
brawn-fallen1578
raw-bone1590
scraggeda1591
thin-bellied1591
rake-lean1593
bare-boned1594
forlorn1594
Lented1594
lean-looked1597
shotten herring1598
spiny1598
starved1598
thin-belly1598
raw-boned1600
larbar1603
meagry?1603
fleshless1605
scraggy1611
ballow1612
lank-leana1616
skinnya1616
hagged1616
scraggling1616
carrion-like1620
extenuated1620
thin-gutted1620
haggard1630
scrannel1638
leanisha1645
skeletontal1651
overlean1657
emaciated1665
slank1668
lathy1672
emaciate1676
nithered1691
emacerated1704
lean-looking1713
scranky1735
squinny-gut(s)1742
mauger1756
squinny1784
angular1789
etiolated1791
as thin (also lean) as a rail1795
wiry1808
slink1817
scranny1820
famine-hollowed1822
sharp featured1824
reedy1830
scrawny1833
stringy1833
lean-ribbeda1845
skeletony1852
famine-pinched1856
shelly1866
flesh-fallen1876
thinnish1884
all horn and hide1890
unfurnished1893
bone-thin1899
underweight1899
asthenic1925
skin-and-bony1935
skinny-malinky1940
skeletal1952
pencil-neck1960
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) iv. 0. 26 Their gesture sad, Inuesting lanke-leane Cheekes. View more context for this quotation
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [adjective] > straight
uncurled1596
lanky1670
lankish1689
lank1690
straight1748
sleeking1827
uncrisped1827
uncurling1854
curlless1861
1689 London Gaz. No. 2483/4 A Tall fresh coloured Fellow, with lankish white Hair.
ˈlankly adv. in a lank manner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily constitution > bodily weakness > [adverb]
faintlyc1320
weakly1398
unthendelyc1440
lankly1611
flaggingly1693
strengthlessly1820
punily1827
nervelessly1836
flaccidly1847
limply1869
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] > to a small extent or slightly
lightlyeOE
liteOE
littleOE
a litec1290
smallc1300
softc1390
smally?a1425
slenderlya1513
hoverly1549
remissly1557
slender1581
not half1583
faintly1590
slightly1594
lankly1611
lowly1655
slight1671
nicely1698
weakly1775
sparingly1796
jimply1816
feebly1830
slightually1859
marginally1960
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [adverb] > straight
slicklya1616
lankly1924
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Maigrement, Meagerly,.. lankly, slenderly.
1661 O. Felltham Resolves (rev. ed.) 231 She, like the humble one, falls flat, and lankly lyes upon the earth.
a1665 K. Digby Closet Opened (1669) 198 They [the guts] are to be cleansed in the Ordinary manner; and filled very lankely.
1924 C. Mackenzie Old Men of Sea xi. 182 Mrs. Ringshaw used to stand beside him, her grey hair wet with spray and lankly waving.
ˈlankness n. the condition of being lank.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > [noun] > thin shape > state of having
leannessa1000
boninessa1398
macilence?a1425
meagreness?a1425
macies?a1450
meagrec1450
povertya1475
bareness1552
extenuation1576
poorness1577
gauntness1607
lankness1611
macilencya1631
spareness1648
emaceration1656
emaciation1662
skinniness1688
angularity1822
thinness1827
pinchedness1857
scrawniness1863
scragginess1865
wizenedness1887
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Maigreté, Meagarnesse, leannesse, thinnesse, lankenesse.
a1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary (1651) iii. v. 55 Hungry Notes are fit for Knels: May lankenes be No Quest to me.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 317 Being thus compelled to open its jaws, it [sc. a viper] once more resumed its former lankness.
1824 Examiner 23/2 There was a haggardness and lankness about his cheeks.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xxxv. 136 A certain lankness of cheek..added nearly ten years to his age.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1901; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† lankv.
Obsolete.
1. transitive. To make lank.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > slim [verb (transitive)] > thin
leanc897
lensea1000
lank1519
extenuate1541
meagre1570
formeagre1571
extenue1574
scarcen1594
emacerate1610
wanze1647
emaciate1650
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria iv. f. 39v As soone as thou arte vp lanke thy bely [L. leuato aluum] and spett out rotten fleme.
1562 G. Legh Accedens of Armory (1597) 44 b The Lion..(if he be in daunger to bee chased)..vomiteth at his will, and lanketh himselfe.
1604 Dialogue Warre Famine & Pestilence in Meeting of Gallants sig. A4v I rack the vaines and Sinewes, lancke the lungs.
1610 G. Fletcher Christs Victorie 4 Greefes companie..lankes the cheekes.
2. intransitive. To become lank or shrunken.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > slim [verb (intransitive)] > shrink
to fall away1527
fall?1528
to fall in1607
lanka1616
pitch1751
fine1873
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) i. iv. 71 And all this..Was borne so like a Soldiour, that thy cheeke So much as lank'd not. View more context for this quotation
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1901; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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adj.n.OE
v.1519