edge vs flank

edge

noun
  • A shot where the ball comes off the edge of the bat, often unintentionally. 

  • A one-dimensional face of a polytope. In particular, the joining line between two vertices of a polygon; the place where two faces of a polyhedron meet. 

  • Sharpness; readiness or fitness to cut; keenness; intenseness of desire. 

  • The boundary line of a surface. 

  • An advantage. 

  • The thin cutting side of the blade of an instrument, such as an ax, knife, sword, or scythe; that which cuts as an edge does, or wounds deeply, etc. 

  • The border or part adjacent to the line of division; the beginning or early part (of a period of time) 

  • The point of data production in an organization (the focus of edge computing), as opposed to the cloud. 

  • A level of sexual arousal that is maintained just short of reaching the point of inevitability, or climax. 

  • A sharp terminating border; a margin; a brink; an extreme verge. 

  • A connected pair of vertices in a graph. 

verb
  • To trim the margin of a lawn where the grass meets the sidewalk, usually with an electric or gas-powered lawn edger. 

  • To furnish with an edge, as a tool or weapon; to sharpen. 

  • To make sharp or keen; to incite; to exasperate; to goad; to urge or egg on. 

  • To hit the ball with an edge of the bat, causing a fine deflection. 

  • To delay one's orgasm so as to remain almost at the point of orgasm. 

  • To move an object slowly and carefully in a particular direction. 

  • To furnish with an edge; to construct an edging. 

  • To move slowly and carefully in a particular direction. 

  • To win by a small margin. 

flank

noun
  • The wing, one side of the pitch. 

  • The flesh between the last rib and the hip; the side. 

  • The sides of a bastion perpendicular to the wall from which the bastion projects. 

  • The outermost strip of a road. 

  • That part of the acting surface of a gear wheel tooth that lies within the pitch line. 

  • A cut of meat from the flank of an animal. 

  • The side of something, in general senses. 

  • The extreme left or right edge of a military formation, army etc. 

adj
  • Maximum. Historically faster than full speed (the most a vessel can sustain without excessive engine wear or risk of damage), now frequently used interchangeably. Typically used in an emergency or during an attack. 

verb
  • To be placed to the side(s) of something (usually in terms of two objects, one on each side). 

  • To defend the flank(s) of. 

  • To attack the flank(s) of. 

  • To place to the side(s) of. 

How often have the words edge and flank occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )