HomeServicesBlogDictionariesContactSpanish Course
Back to search

Shank

Noun CEFR C2 Specialized
ʃæŋk

Definitions

  1. A surname.
  2. The part of the leg between the knee and the ankle.
  3. Meat from that part of an animal.
  4. A redshank or greenshank, various species of Old World wading birds in the genus Tringa having distinctly colored legs.
  5. A straight, narrow part of an object, such as a key or an anchor; shaft; stem.
  6. The handle of a pair of shears, connecting the ride to the neck.
  7. The center part of a fishhook between the eye and the hook, the 'hook' being the curved part that bends toward the point.
  8. A protruding part of an object, by which it is or can be attached.
  9. The metal part on a curb bit that falls below the mouthpiece, which length controls the severity of the leverage action of the bit, and to which the reins of the bridle are attached.
  10. A poorly played golf shot in which the ball is struck by the part of the club head that connects to the shaft.
  11. The part of the sole beneath the instep connecting the broader front part with the heel.
  12. A metal strip strengthening the waists of shoes. (Also shankpiece.)
  13. An improvised stabbing weapon, originally in prison, possibly from the strips of metal in shoes.
  14. A loop forming an eye to a button.
  15. The space between two channels of the Doric triglyph.
  16. A large ladle for molten metal, fitted with long bars for handling it.
  17. The body of a type; between the shoulder and the foot.
  18. Flat-nosed pliers, used by opticians for nipping off the edges of pieces of glass to make them round.
  19. The end or remainder, particularly of a period of time.
  20. The main part or beginning of a period of time.

Equivalents

36 more languages
Afrikaansskenkel
বাংলাঠেং
Catalàgambagarra
Češtinabérecdřík
Esperantokruro
Eestikoot
فارسیسردست
Gaeilgelorga
Galegocanela
Magyarlábszár
Bahasa Indonesiasengkel
Íslenskaleggur
ქართულიკანჭი
Kurdîincik
Latviešukāts
Македонскиколеница
Portuguêscanela
Românăgambarasol
සිංහලකෙණ්ඩය
Slovenčinalýtko
Türkçeincik
Tiếng Việtcẳng chân

Examples

Edward I of England was nicknamed Edward Longshanks.”
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide / For his shrunk shank […]”
The honest, rough piece of iron, so simple in appearance, has more parts than the human body has limbs: the ring, the stock, the crown, the flukes, the palms, the shank. All this, according to the journalist, is “castwhen a ship arriving at an anchorage is brought up.”
This twist drill has a reduced shank so that it can be used even in a small chuck.”
“To a good golfer a shank is disgracefuller than being dead drunk or in jail.”
“LBC's tryna blackball me / And tryna blame your boy for knife crime (Like, what?) / I don't use a shank, I got money in the bank / Man, I'd rather do a drive-by
One of the shot callers' responsibilities was to control the shanks within the prison populationthe crude homemade knives used for stabbing another prisoner.”
the shank of the morning
AMANDA: Going now? You're joking! Why, it's only the shank of the evening, Mr. O’Connor!”

CEFR level

C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
See all C2 English words →

See also

Learn this word in context

See Shank used in real conversations inside our free language course.

Start Free Course

Know this word better than we do? Language is a living thing — help us keep it growing. Collaborate with Babel Free