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”).
Meanings
The part of the leg between the knee and the ankle.
Edward I of England was nicknamed Edward Longshanks.
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide / For his shrunk shank […] c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene 7)]:
Meat from that part of an animal.
(colloquial) A redshank or greenshank, various species of Old World wading birds in the genus Tringa having distinctly colored legs.
A straight, narrow part of an object, such as a key or an anchor; shaft; stem.
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 “cast” when a ship arriving at an anchorage is brought up. 1904–1906, Joseph Conrad, chapter IV, in The Mirror of the Sea, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, published October 1906, →OCLC:
The handle of a pair of shears, connecting the ride to the neck.
The center part of a fishhook between the eye and the hook, the 'hook' being the curved part that bends toward the point.
A protruding part of an object, by which it is or can be attached.
This twist drill has a reduced shank so that it can be used even in a small chuck.
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.
A poorly played golf shot in which the ball is struck by the part of the club head that connects to the shaft.
To a good golfer a shank is disgracefuller than being dead drunk or in jail. 1953, Arnold Gingrich, The Esquire Treasury:
(qualifier:shoemaking) The part of the sole beneath the instep connecting the broader front part with the heel.
(qualifier:shoemaking) A metal strip strengthening the waists of shoes. (Also shankpiece.)
(slang) An improvised stabbing weapon, originally in prison, possibly from the strips of metal in shoes.
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 2017, Stormzy, Mura Masa, “Mr Skeng” (track 1), in Gang Signs & Prayer, performed by Stormzy:
One of the shot callers' responsibilities was to control the shanks within the prison population—the crude homemade knives used for stabbing another prisoner. 2019, Casey Diaz, Mike Yorkey, The Shot Caller […] , Emanate Books, →ISBN, page 76:
A loop forming an eye to a button.
The space between two channels of the Doric triglyph.
A large ladle for molten metal, fitted with long bars for handling it.
(dated) The body of a type; between the shoulder and the foot.
Flat-nosed pliers, used by opticians for nipping off the edges of pieces of glass to make them round.
The end or remainder, particularly of a period of time.
The main part or beginning of a period of time.
the shank of the morning
AMANDA: Going now? You're joking! Why, it's only the shank of the evening, Mr. O’Connor! 1945, Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie, page 92:
izh sääri (lower part of the leg) · nb skank (lower part of the leg) · scn jamma (lower part of the leg) · ro gambă (lower part of the leg) · nrf gambe (lower part of the leg) · nb skinnbein (lower part of the leg) · fa سردست (meat from that part of animal) · sv skänkel (lower part of the leg) · ga spanla (lower part of the leg) · sv skänkel (straight, narrow part of an object) · sh potkoljenica (lower part of the leg) · cs dřík (straight, narrow part of an object) · fa قلم پا (lower part of the leg) · sk píšťala (lower part of the leg) · ru хвостови́к (protruding part of an object, by which it can be attached) · ru улит (a bird of the genus Tringa) · it gamba (lower part of the leg) · de Hachse (meat from that part of animal) · ky шыйрак (lower part of the leg) · mk коленица (meat from that part of animal) · bg джолан (meat from that part of animal) · de Unterschenkel (lower part of the leg) · cs bérec (lower part of the leg) · fi kahva (protruding part of an object, by which it can be attached) · fi varsi (straight, narrow part of an object) · bg стержен (straight, narrow part of an object) · fr tringle (straight, narrow part of an object) · bn ঠেং (lower part of the leg) · hy արտալա (meat from that part of animal) · lad puli (meat from that part of animal) · is leggur (lower part of the leg) · arz عرقوب (lower part of the leg) · et koot (meat from that part of animal) · ba сираҡ (lower part of the leg) · ota اینجك (lower part of the leg) · ro rasol (meat from that part of animal) · nb skjenkel (lower part of the leg) · fr jarret (meat from that part of animal) · id sengkel (meat from that part of animal) · pt canela (lower part of the leg) · nb skinnben (lower part of the leg) · ga lorga (lower part of the leg) · uk хвостовик (protruding part of an object, by which it can be attached) · mi koreke (The centre part of a fishhook) · lt blauzda (lower part of the leg) · bg подбедрица (lower part of the leg) · scn gamma (lower part of the leg) · grc κωλῆ (meat from that part of animal) · eo kruro (lower part of the leg) · fi takapotka (meat from that part of animal) · fi etupotka (meat from that part of animal) · sk lýtko (meat from that part of animal) · uk гомілка (lower part of the leg) · fi potka (meat from that part of animal) · ca garra (lower part of the leg) · ar عُرْقُوب (lower part of the leg) · ru плюсна́ (lower part of the leg) · nl onderbeen (lower part of the leg) · nl schenkel (lower part of the leg) · sk holeň (lower part of the leg) · sh gnjat (lower part of the leg) · alt јодо (lower part of the leg) · ba ашҡаҡ (lower part of the leg) · nb skank (meat from that part of animal) · sv syl (an improvised stabbing weapon) · sv skänkel (meat from that part of animal) · ru сте́ржень (straight, narrow part of an object) · fi otin (protruding part of an object, by which it can be attached) · hy սրունք (lower part of the leg) · fi ripa (protruding part of an object, by which it can be attached) · ka კანჭი (meat from that part of animal) · it stinco (meat from that part of animal) · fr jambe (lower part of the leg) · uk стрижень (straight, narrow part of an object) · sk lýtko (lower part of the leg) · nb legg (lower part of the leg) · sv vässat skaft (an improvised stabbing weapon) · grc κωλήν (meat from that part of animal) · pl goleń (lower part of the leg) · fi potka (lower part of the leg) · ru го́лень (lower part of the leg) · it gambo (straight, narrow part of an object) · af skenkel (lower part of the leg) · rsk колєнко (meat from that part of animal) · tr incik (meat from that part of animal) · fi sääri (lower part of the leg) · fi varsi (part of curb bit) · ota باجاق (lower part of the leg) · ga speir (meat from that part of animal) · gl canela (lower part of the leg) · ba енсек (lower part of the leg) · de Beinstück (meat from that part of animal) · es pincho (an improvised stabbing weapon) · hu lábszár (lower part of the leg) · ca gamba (a bird of the genus Tringa) · alt шыйрак (lower part of the leg)
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”).
Meanings
(Ulster, archaic) To travel on foot.
(slang) To stab, especially with an improvised blade.
Casey: You're being too honest. You gotta... tell 'em what they want to hear. You gotta lie, dude.
Sam: I can't lie. I'm bad at it and I don't like it. What's the point?
Casey: Well, imagine if you didn't like your boss at work.
Sam: I do. I like Bob.
Casey: I know, that's why I said "imagine". If you lie and pretend that you like them, you're fine. But if you tell them the truth, you get fired, you can't afford food, and you get shanked for cutting in line at the soup kitchen. And then you die.
Sam: Huh! That does make sense.
Casey: Sometimes you have to lie to get by. 2018, Mike Oppenhuizen, “Pants of Fire” (1:53 from the start), in Geeta Patel, director, Atypical, season 2, episode 4, spoken by Casey and Sam (Jack Haven (credited as Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Keir Gilchrist), via Netflix:
(slang) To remove another's trousers, especially in jest; to depants.
(transitive) To misstrike the ball with the part of the club head that connects to the shaft.
(qualifier:gridiron football, transitive) To hit or kick the ball in an unintended direction.
Marouane Chamakh then spurned a great chance to kill the game off when he ran onto Andrey Arshavin's lofted through ball but shanked his shot horribly across the face of goal. 2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport:
(intransitive) To fall off, as a leaf, flower, or capsule, on account of disease affecting the supporting footstalk; usually followed by off.
the gerrnens of these swelled, and on four out of the six I have now got fine pods, above 1% inch in length, with the seeds externally visible; whereas the flower stalks of the many other flowers all shanked off. 1861, Charles Darwin, Cause of the variation of flowers:
(transitive) To provide (a button) with a shank (loop forming an eye).
The system is suitable for shanking all kind of sewn buttons (jackets, coats, blouses, shirts, trousers). 2000, The Indian Textile Journal (volume 110, issues 7-12)
(qualifier:shoemaking) To apply the shank to a shoe, during the process of manufacturing it.
I take those metal shanks, slide the backs of them in glue and make them lie down on the shoe-bottoms, […] Last week they ran a contest to see which shankers shanked fastest. I'm not embarrassed to say I beat them all. 1986 March 6, "Factory Work" [Poetry, 147], quoted in 2009, Deborah Boe, The Girl of the Early Race: Poems, Gegensatz Press