Link Centre Dictionary

shank

UK/ˈʃæŋk/ US/ˈʃʰæŋk/ uncommon archaic dated slang
noun (8) verb (1)

noun

1.

a cut of meat (beef or veal or mutton or lamb) from the upper part of the leg

2.

the part of the human leg between the knee and the ankle

3.

cylinder forming a long narrow part of something

Synonyms
4.

cylinder forming the part of a bolt between the thread and the head

5.

cylinder forming the part of a bit by which it is held in the drill

6.

the narrow part of the shoe connecting the heel and the wide part of the sole

Synonyms
7.

lower part of the leg extending from the hock to the fetlock in hoofed mammals

Synonyms
8.

a poor golf stroke in which the heel of the club hits the ball

verb

1.

hit (a golf ball) with the heel of a club, causing the ball to veer in the wrong direction

Origin

Inherited from Middle English sceonke, schank, schanke, shanke, schonke, sconke, sschanke, from Old English sċanca, sċeanca, sċeonca (“leg”), from Proto-West Germanic *skankō, from Proto-Germanic *skankô (“shank; thigh”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keng- (“to hobble, limp; to tilt”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian skonk (“leg”), Dutch schenkel (“shank”), German and Luxembourgish Schenkel (“thigh”), Danish skank (“shank; leg”), Norwegian Nynorsk skank, skonk (“thigh; foot”), Swedish skank, skånk (“leg”); also Cornish kamm (“pace, step”), Irish céim (“pace, step”), Manx keim (“degree, pace, stage, step”), Scottish Gaelic ceum (“pace, step”), Welsh cam (“pace, step”), Greek σκάω (skáo), σκάζω (skázo, “to burst, explode”), Bulgarian and Macedonian шега́ (šegá, “jest, joke; prank”).

Phrases

  • bit shank
  • ham shank
  • shanks' mare
  • shanks' nag
  • shanks' pony
  • velvet shank

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.