flange

Flanges (ribs or rims)

Flanges on railway wheels keep the wheels on the track.

From dialectal English flange (“to project”), flanch (“a projection”), from Old French flanche (“flank, side”). See flank. As a term for a group of baboons, it was popularized in the comedy TV series Not the Nine O'Clock News.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /flændʒ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

flange (plural flanges)

1. An external or internal rib or rim, used either to add strength or to hold something in place.
2. The projecting edge of a rigid or semi-rigid component.
3. (role-playing games) An ability in a role-playing game which is not commonly available, overpowered or arbitrarily imposed by the referees.
   • 1998: Mr MI Pennington, Can the Players be Trusted? on rec.games.frp.live-action [The] enduring problem with the Gathering is that [players] can't affect anything that happens ... whatever they do, the LT just flange it back to the original plot line.
   • 2007: balor, Changing the metaphysics on Rule 7 'Oh look, the amulet of flange has been activated, this means all Paladins now only have one heal per day instead of two.'
4. (vulgar slang) A vulva.
   • 2001: tedfat, Flange!!!! in alt.society.nottingham

     I was in bed the other day with the missus and I asked to see her flange. Imagine my surprise when she got up went downstairs to my toolbox and brought me up a metal looking object called a flange!!!!! Needless to say when she asked to see my nuts the next time I obliged by doing exactly the same as her.

   • 2003: Ray Gordon, Hot Sheets

     'God, she's got a tight flange!' the plumber gasped, splaying the girl's buttocks and focusing on her O-ring.

5. (rare, humorous) The collective noun for a group of baboons.
   • 1980s (first use), Rowan Atkinson - Not the Nine O'clock News
   • 2006, Rick Crosier - Getting Away with Murder

     (I suspect they hired a flange of baboons to mind the house.)

6. The electronic sound distortion produced by a flanger.

• (collective noun for a group of baboons) troop, congress

• flange greaser
• flange lubricator
• flange oiler

flange (third-person singular simple present flanges, present participle flanging, simple past and past participle flanged)

1. (intransitive) To be bent into a flange.
2. (transitive) To make a flange on; to furnish with a flange.
3. (transitive, sound engineering) To mix two copies of together, one delayed by a very short, slowly varying time.

• fangle

From English flange.

• IPA^(key): /flanɡsjɘ/, [ˈflɑŋɕɘ]

flange c (singular definite flangen, plural indefinite flanger)

1. flange (external or internal rib or rim)

• flangie (misspelling)

flange f pl

1. plural of flangia