# shank

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈʃæŋk/ · frequency rank #26,596

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

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **sink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-sink)
- **shaw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-shaw)
- **span** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-span)
- **stan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-stan)
- **swan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-swan)
- **sunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-sunk)
- **shin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-shin)
- **soak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-soak)
- **Shen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-shen)
- **shun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-shun)
- **shay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-shay)
- **shat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-shat)
- **sian** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-sian)
- **Shek** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-shek)
- **share** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-share)
- **stand** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-stand)
- **shape** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-shape)
- **sharp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-sharp)
- **shock** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-shock)
- **shine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shank-vs-shine)

## Common misspellings (8)
`hsank`, `sahnk`, `shakn`, `shankk`, `shannk`, `shhank`, `shnak`, `sshank`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shank