shank

Noun

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

Verb

1. (Ulster, archaic) To travel on foot.
2. (slang) To stab, especially with an improvised blade.
3. (slang) To remove another's trousers, especially in jest; to depants.
4. (transitive) To misstrike the ball with the part of the club head that connects to the shaft.
5. (transitive) To hit or kick the ball in an unintended direction.
6. (intransitive) To fall off, as a leaf, flower, or capsule, on account of disease affecting the supporting footstalk; usually followed by off.
7. (transitive) To provide (a button) with a shank (loop forming an eye).
8. To apply the shank to a shoe, during the process of manufacturing it.

Adj

Bad.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʃæŋk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: schanke

Inherited from Old English: sċanca

Cognate with Western Frisian: skonk

Cognate with Low German: Schanke

Cognate with German: Schenkel

Cognate with Danish: skank

Cognate with Norwegian: skank

Cognate with Old Norse: skakkr

Cognate with Middle Irish: scingim

Cognate with Ancient Greek: σκάζω

In summary

From Middle English schanke, from Old English sċanca (“leg”), from Proto-West Germanic *skankō, from Proto-Germanic *skankô (compare West Frisian skonk, Dutch schenkel, Low German Schanke, German Schenkel (“shank, leg”), Danish skank, Norwegian skank, Swedish skänkel), from *skankaz (compare Old Norse skakkr (“wry, crooked”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keng- (compare Middle Irish scingim (“I spring”), Ancient Greek σκάζω (skázō, “to limp”).

Synonyms

shin

leg

🦵

lower leg

shaft

pivot

stem

rod

calf

foreleg

paw

spindle

cannon

stalk

helve

waist

tibia

thigh

sandpiper

scape

shinbone

slip

spur

stick

stipe

stock

sura

tattler

toe

walk

🚶

caudex

handle of pot

podetium

rectus

draw tube

cnemis

two-man ladle

lens cone

butchery cut

ש

shin leg

arm

wood shot

axis

carom

crus

cutting

cylinder

foot

🦶

graft

haft

Translations

pierna

🦵

perna

🦵

jambe

🦵

gamba

🦵

noga

Unterschenkel

crus

🦵

cama

🦵

Bein

bacak

🦵

been

🦵

Schaft

canela

stinco

poot