How to Use outflank in a Sentence

outflank

verb
  • The army outflanked the enemy.
  • The bigger risk is being outflanked.
    — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 29 Dec. 2025
  • Let’s start with the premise that Democrats cannot afford to be outflanked on populism again.
    — Matt K. Lewis, Twin Cities, 12 Apr. 2026
  • Corden, late to the scene and behind them in the ratings, is outflanking both on the web.
    — A. O. Scott, Esquire, 7 Feb. 2017
  • Torres manages to outflank Diaz and kills him with a single shot to the head.
    — Sara Netzley, EW.com, 19 Apr. 2022
  • Still, with the respect of the industry on his side, Scott could outflank a field of contenders.
    — Clayton Davis, Variety, 27 Oct. 2023
  • By design, the Chiefs didn’t block the Browns end because a cheetah should outflank an end.
    — Ellis L. Williams, cleveland, 13 Sep. 2021
  • Alpha 24 killed two more tanks before being outflanked and forced to retreat.
    — Bruce Sterling, WIRED, 1 Jan. 1993
  • And yet, in Washington, Altman seems to have outflanked him.
    — Ronan Farrow, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
  • His strategy is to outflank Meloni on the extremes.
    — Erik Jones, Foreign Affairs, 21 Sep. 2022
  • These schemes seemed inspired by the government’s lingering fear of being outflanked on the left.
    — The Economist, 8 June 2019
  • Outflanked by Le Pen at Whirlpool, Macron faced his toughest campaign test yet.
    — Washington Post, 27 Apr. 2017
  • The best way to outflank the deal’s supporters inside government is simply to pull out of it, some argue.
    — Howard Lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 July 2017
  • Banks that modernize now can still win, but those that assume the competitive set is static risk being outflanked.
    — Frank Sorrentino, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Now, though, two other far-right parties have emerged and are trying to outflank the government on immigration.
    — Martin Selsoe Sorensen, New York Times, 4 June 2019
  • Candidates in the new Salt Lake City-area district have tried to outflank one another on the left.
    — ABC News, 23 June 2026
  • The front office allowing the Heat to be outflanked by opposing front offices; 5.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 20 Apr. 2026
  • Vona believes Jobbik has now been outflanked on the extreme right by Orban’s Fidesz party.
    — Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2018
  • Vona believes Jobbik has now been outflanked on the extreme right by Orban's Fidesz party.
    — Pablo Gorondi, Fox News, 7 Apr. 2018
  • Indeed, pro-Iranian parties have begun working to try to outflank al-Sadr.
    — Nicole Gaouette, CNN, 16 May 2018
  • The war record of those few that did reach the front line is unclear, but the tanks were slow enough that they would likely have been outflanked and destroyed by swifter German armor.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 18 Apr. 2018
  • Jenrick covets Badenoch’s job—and his plan to win it relies on outflanking her on crime and immigration.
    — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 30 Dec. 2025
  • With that sort of framing, Biden could outflank Republicans and come out on top in the upcoming debate.
    — David M. Drucker, Washington Examiner, 15 Mar. 2021
  • By contrast, many powerful interests have been trying for a long time to destroy Al-Qaeda, and the group has outflanked them all.
    — Ali Soufan, Newsweek, 19 June 2017
  • His rightward drift on the issue has been strategic, outflanking the far-right National Front as well as the more traditional right.
    — Adam Nossiter, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2018
  • At one point, Joseph Madang, by now one of Bob and Robin’s dearest friends, was outflanked, shot by one of those primitive guns, chopped with steel axes, killed.
    — Sean Flynn, Smithsonian, 23 Feb. 2018
  • The metal skyrocketed 150% in 2025, outflanking the record surge in gold.
    — Hugh Leask, CNBC, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Some have taken to local stations in a bid to outflank rights that bar other advertisers in a particular category from the national stage.
    — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 29 Jan. 2026
  • At the moment, there is no indication that Rydzyk will align himself with any of the small right-wing parties trying to outflank Law and Justice.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 22 Sep. 2019
  • They’re getting outflanked on defense on a consistent basis by basic, basic concepts by Indianapolis.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 9 Sep. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'outflank.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: