Meaning of shanks' mare | Babel Free

Definitions

One's own feet used for walking; to "travel by shanks' mare" or "ride [on] shanks' mare" is to walk to your destination.

US, countable, idiomatic, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“A public exhibition of the velocipede [a predecessor of the bicycle] ... will never come into general use in competition with Shank's mare.”

““Well! Well! Here's Aunt Cannie. Waiting for your car?” “No suh, Mr. Henry. Shank's mare is plenty good fer me. I been ridin' dis ol' mare for more'n a hund'ed years.””

“Once they take to Shanks' mare, they are all equal.”

“The last thing we'd want to be seen doing...is using shanks mare, even though the day is holding up well.”

CEFR level