flange

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A protruding rim, edge, rib, or collar, as on a wheel or a pipe shaft, used to strengthen an object, hold it in place, or attach it to another object.
• noun A wide edge on a pillow, placemat, or other fabric object, especially a piece of fabric or ribbon extending from the outer seam.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A projecting edge, rim, or rib on any object, as the rims by which cast-iron pipes are connected together, or the marginal projections on the tires of railroad-car wheels to keep them on the rails.
• noun A strengthening rib: as, the flange of a fish-bellied rail or girder.
• noun A plate placed over the end of a pipe or cylinder to close it partly or wholly.
• To project out.
• To be bent into a flange; take the form of a flange.
• To furnish with a flange; make a flange on.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun An external or internal rib, or rim, for strength, as the flange of an iron beam; or for a guide, as the flange of a car wheel (see car wheel.); or for attachment to another object, as the flange on the end of a pipe, steam cylinder, etc.
• noun A plate or ring to form a rim at the end of a pipe when fastened to the pipe.
• noun a plate for covering or closing the end of a pipe.
• noun a joint, as that of pipes, where the connecting pieces have flanges by which the parts are bolted together.
• noun a rail with a flange on one side, to keep wheels, etc. from running off.
• noun the process of forming a flange on a wrought iron plate by bending and hammering it when hot.
• intransitive verb To be bent into a flange.
• transitive verb (Mach.) To make a flange on; to furnish with a flange.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun An external or internal rib or rim, used either to add strength or to hold something in place.
• noun The projecting edge of a rigid or semi-rigid component.
• noun gaming An ability in a role-playing game which is not commonly available, overpowered or arbitrarily imposed by the referees.
• noun vulgar slang A vulva.
• noun rare, humorous The collective noun for a group of baboons.
• verb To be bent into a flange.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a projection used for strength or for attaching to another object