SHANK • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Shank

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/ʃæŋk/ Listen

noun

Shank n. (Zool.) See Chank.

Shank n.

1.

The part of the leg from the knee to the foot; the shin; the shin bone; also, the whole leg. "His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank."

2.

Hence, that part of an instrument, tool, or other thing, which connects the acting part with a handle or other part, by which it is held or moved. Specifically:

(a)

That part of a key which is between the bow and the part which enters the wards of the lock.

(b)

The middle part of an anchor, or that part which is between the ring and the arms.

(c)

That part of a hoe, rake, knife, or the like, by which it is secured to a handle.

(d)

A loop forming an eye to a button.

3.

(Arch.) The space between two channels of the Doric triglyph.

4.

(Founding) A large ladle for molten metal, fitted with long bars for handling it.

5.

(Print.) The body of a type.

6.

(Shoemaking) The part of the sole beneath the instep connecting the broader front part with the heel.

7.

(Zool.) A wading bird with long legs; as, the green-legged shank, or knot; the yellow shank, or tattler; called also shanks.

8.

pl. Flat-nosed pliers, used by opticians for nipping off the edges of pieces of glass to make them round.

Shank painter (Naut.), a short rope or chain which holds the shank of an anchor against the side of a vessel when it is secured for a voyage.

To ride shank's mare, to go on foot; to walk.

verb

Shank v. i. To fall off, as a leaf, flower, or capsule, on account of disease affecting the supporting footstalk; usually followed by off.

See images of 'Shank'

Etymology of 'Shank'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Shank" Quotes from Famous Books

... shank bone, and trim the knuckle, put it into lukewarm water for ten minutes, wash it clean, cover it with cold water, and let it simmer very gently, and skim it carefully. A leg of nine pounds will take two and a half or three ...

— The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual • William Kitchiner

... Dunn, Joe Bovard, and Andy Shank. Joe Bovard had been in the service from the beginning of the war. He was over six feet in height, a good-natured, manly fellow. George Dunn extended upward to an altitude of at least six feet and a half, besides running along ...

— In The Ranks - From the Wilderness to Appomattox Court House • R. E. McBride

... the head-end; and, having drawn him above the arming of your hook, then put the point of your hook again into the very head of the worm, till it come near to the place where the point of the hook first came out, and then draw back that part of the worm that was above the shank or arming of your hook, and so fish with it. And if you mean to fish with two worms, then put the second on before you turn back the hook's- head of the first worm. You cannot lose above two or three worms before you attain to what ...

— The Complete Angler • Izaak Walton

... flock could rank?— Sae hale and hearty every shank! Nae poison'd soor Arminian stank He let them taste; Frae Calvin's well, aye clear, ...

— Poems And Songs Of Robert Burns • Robert Burns

... virtues and good qualities, that they felt it reasonable in some things to gratify his fancies and his passion of glory, in pursuit of which he hazarded himself so far, that, besides his other adventures, he had but lately been wounded in the leg by an arrow, which had so shattered the shank-bone that splinters were taken out. And on another occasion he received a violent blow with a stone upon the nape of the neck, which dimmed his sight for a good while afterwards. And yet all this could not hinder him from exposing himself ...

— Plutarch's Lives • A.H. Clough

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