a. [f. LANK a. + -Y1.] Awkwardly or ungracefully lean and long. † Also (of hair) somewhat lank (obs.).

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1670.  Lond. Gaz., No. 437/4. He is … of a tall Stature, with fair lanky hair.

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1818.  Todd, Lanky adj., a vulgar expression to denote a tall thin person.

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1833.  Ht. Martineau, Cinnamon & Pearls, v. 82. Their worn and lanky frames.

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1847–8.  H. Miller, First Impr., i. (1861), 3. A tall lanky Northumbrian.

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1860.  All Year Round, No. 72. 509. I pass by many a church,… with their tall hulking fronts and lanky pillars.

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1861.  W. H. Russell, in Times, 12 July, 12/3. The overseer, a sharp-looking Creole, on a lanky pony, whip in hand, superintended their [the mules’] labours.

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1874.  Burnand, My Time, ii. 21. The lanky Charles … did something with a chorus to it.

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1892.  Baring-Gould, Strange Survivals, v. 112. The spiral coil would prevent the lanky rushlight from falling over and out of the lamp.

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  b.  Comb., as lanky-eared, -limbed adjs.

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1815.  W. H. Ireland, Scribbleomania, 82. The station of groom to a lanky-ear’d Neddy.

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1896.  Mary Beaumont, Joan Seaton, 171. A schoolboy, bright-eyed and lanky-limbed.

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