shank

/ˈʃæŋk/

//ˈʃæŋk// noun

"shank" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shank” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #26,596. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#26,596
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The part of the leg between the knee and the ankle.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shank · shank · English

shank · rank #26,596 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #26,596
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH seatbelt

Nearest frequency peer: seatbelt (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “shank”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “shank” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

shank vs sink
60% similar
shank vs shaw
60% similar
shank vs span
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for shank
PropertyValue
Headwordshank
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈʃæŋk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#26,596
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “shank”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).shanklands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “seatbelt” (#26,595), “sharpened” (#26,597), “scripting” (#26,594). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shank” is #26,596. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around shank (IPA /ˈʃæŋk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #26,596 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 19 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for shank, with forms such as "hsank", "sahnk", and "shakn". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sink", "shaw", "span", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited 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 sk… The correct English form is shank, spelled S-H-A-N-K.

Definition

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

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how shank appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Edward I of England was nicknamed Edward Longshanks.
  2. His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide / For his shrunk shank […]

Etymology

Inherited 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”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hsank
  • sahnk
  • shakn
  • shankk
  • shannk
  • shhank
  • shnak
  • sshank

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shank - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hsank2sahnk2shakn2shankk1shannk1shhank1shnak2sshank1
Edit distance from "shank"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "shank"?
"shank" is spelled S-H-A-N-K. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈʃæŋk/.
What does "shank" mean?
As a noun, "shank" means: The part of the leg between the knee and the ankle.
What words are commonly confused with "shank"?
"shank" is commonly confused with "sink", "shaw", "span". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "shank"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shank" is /ˈʃæŋk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "shank"?
Inherited 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, No... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "shank", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list