- the straight narrow part between the two ends of a tool or an object
- the shank of a key
- the part of an animal’s or a person’s leg between the knee and ankleTopics Animalsc2
- the top part of the leg of an animal, cooked and eaten
- braised lamb shanks
Word OriginOld English sceanca, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch schenk ‘leg bone’ and High German Schenkel ‘thigh’.
Idioms
See shank in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary(on) Shanks’s pony
- (British English, informal) walking, rather than travelling by car, bus, etc. synonym on foot
- ‘How did you get here?’ ‘Shanks’s pony!’
Check pronunciation:
shank