To strip blubber or fat from a whale or seal, a method used in whaling and seal hunting to prepare the animal's fat for oil production.
From Dutch vlenzen or Flemish vlenzen, related to flense; possibly influenced by Scandinavian languages through contact with whaling communities in the North Atlantic.
Whaling terminology like 'flench' came from Dutch and Flemish whalers who dominated the industry—their language for processing whales became the standard across all whaling nations!
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