22 June 2018
shank
[shangk]
noun
1. Anatomy. the part of the lower limb in humans between the knee and the ankle; leg.
2. a corresponding or analogous part in certain animals.
3. the lower limb in humans, including both the leg and the thigh.
4. a cut of meat from the top part of the front (foreshank) or back (hind shank) leg of an animal.
5. a narrow part of various devices, as a tool or bolt, connecting the end by which the object is held or moved with the end that acts upon another object.
6. a straight, usually narrow, shaftlike part of various objects connecting two more important or complex parts, as the stem of a pipe.
7. a knob, small projection, or end of a device for attaching to another object, as a small knob on the back of a solid button, or the end of a drill for gripping in a shaft.
8. the long, straight part of an anchor connecting the crown and the ring.
9. the straight part of a fishhook away from the bent part or prong.
10. Music. crook1(def 8).
11. Informal.
the early part of a period of time:
It was just the shank of the evening when the party began.
the latter part of a period of time:
They didn’t get started until the shank of the morning.
12. the narrow part of the sole of a shoe, lying beneath the instep.
13. shankpiece.
14. Printing. the body of a type, between the shoulder and the foot.
15. Golf. a shot veering sharply to the right after being hit with the base of a club shaft.
16. the part of a phonograph stylus or needle on which the diamond or sapphire tip is mounted.
17. Jewelry. the part of a ring that surrounds the finger; hoop.
verb (used with object)
18. Golf. to hit (a golf ball) with the base of the shaft of a club just above the club head, causing the ball to go off sharply to the right.
verb (used without object)
19. Chiefly Scot. to travel on foot.
Compare shanks’ mare.
Idioms
20. shank of the evening, the main or best part of the evening:
Don’t leave yet—it’s just the shank of the evening.
Origin of shank
Middle English, Old English
before 900; Middle English (noun); Old English sc(e)anca; cognate with Low German schanke leg, thigh; akin to German Schenkel thigh, Schinken ham
Related forms
unshanked, adjective
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for shank
Contemporary Examples
If she got caught with a shank, they would up her custody level.
How a ‘Real Housewife’ Survives Prison: ‘I Don’t See [Teresa Giudice] Having a Cakewalk Here’
Michael Howard
January 6, 2015
Seager writes about being threatened by a patient with a shank carved out of an eyeglass stem.
Inside a Hospital for the Criminally Insane
Caitlin Dickson
September 15, 2014
You see, the victim can slip up behind you on any given day and stick a shank in your ribs—or pay someone else to do it.
How Will Chelsea Manning Be Treated in Prison?
Mansfield Frazier
August 22, 2013
Everyone complains that Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray shank shots but stubbornly stick to the same strategy.
How to Play a Tennis Monster
Sujay Kumar
September 10, 2012
The bloodthirsty Young Turks of Bohane bide their time, waiting in the shadows to shank and supplant their revelry-addled elders.
Must Reads: Kennedy, Sontag and Paris, ‘A Partial History of Lost Causes,’ ‘City of Bohane,’ ‘Flatscreen’
Lauren Elkin, Mythili Rao, Drew Toal, Nicholas Mancusi
April 6, 2012
Historical Examples
He struck the rivet such a blow that he snapped one shank of his spur short off.
Chip, of the Flying U
B. M. Bower
This plate is soldered to the shank of the screw-eye and the cleat is complete.
Boys’ Book of Model Boats
Raymond Francis Yates
He’s in the shank of his honeymoon as we stands chattin’ yere.’
Faro Nell and Her Friends
Alfred Henry Lewis
He’s had just about time to make the trip on shank ‘s mare by takin’ short cuts.
Dwellers in the Hills
Melville Davisson Post
Next to the blade on the end of which is the cutting edge, is the shank, Fig. 65.
Handwork in Wood
William Noyes
Today’s quote
The first World Cup I remember was in the 1950 when I was 9 or 10 years old. My father was a soccer player, and there was a big party, and when Brazil lost to Uruguay, I saw my father crying.
– Pele
On this day
22 June 1938 – death of C.J. Dennis, Australian poet (Songs of a Sentimental Bloke). Born 7 September 1876. Note, that C.J. Dennis foretold email by about 90 years with his reference to ‘ethergrams thro’ space’ which appears in ‘The Stoush of Day‘, in ‘The Sentimental Bloke‘.
22 June 1986 – the controversial ‘hand of God’ incident in the FIFA World Cup match between Argentina and England, when Diego Maradona scored a goal that came off his hand. The referee didn’t see the hand infringement and awarded the goal. Four minutes after the ‘hand of God’ goal, Maradona scored the ‘goal of the century’, which is claimed to be the greatest individual goal of all time, which he scored after playing the ball for 60 metres within 10 seconds, through four English defenders to slot the goal. Argentina won the match 2-1 and went on to win the World Cup.