Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Flanker

Flanker , noun

One who, or that which, flanks, as a skirmisher or a body of troops sent out upon the flanks of an army to guard a line of march, or a fort projecting so as to command the side of an assailing body.
They threw out flankers, and endeavored to dislodge their assailants. — W. Irwing

Flanker , transitive verb

[See Flank, transitive verb]

1.
To defend by lateral fortifications. [Obsolete] — Sir T. Herbert
2.
To attack sideways. [Obsolete] — Evelyn