shack

¹

[ shak ]

noun

1. a rough cabin; shanty.
2. Informal. radio shack.

verb phrase

1. Slang.
   1. to live together as spouses without being legally married.
   2. to have illicit sexual relations.
   3. to live in a shack:

      He's shacked up in the mountains.

shack

²

[ shak ]

verb (used with object)

, Informal.

1. to chase and throw back; to retrieve:

   to shack a ground ball.

shack

¹

/ ʃæk /

noun

1. a roughly built hut
2. temporary accommodation put together by squatters

verb

1. See shack up

shack

²

/ ʃæk /

verb

1. dialect.
   to evade (work or responsibility)

Word History and Origins

Origin of shack¹

1875–80, Americanism; compare earlier shackly rickety, probably akin to ramshackle ( Mexican Spanish jacal “hut” is a phonetically impossible source)

Origin of shack²

1825–35, Americanism; apparently special use of dial. shack to shake

Word History and Origins

Origin of shack¹

C19: perhaps from dialect shackly ramshackle, from dialect shack to shake

Example Sentences

So, the Southside Smokehouse is more than a barbecue pit, a burger shack, or a Cajun kitchen.

From The Daily Beast

Childress even kept his dead father Billy bound up and rotting in a nearby shack, Psycho-style.

From The Daily Beast

Caddy Shack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day and Analyze This affirm it.

From The Daily Beast

For many, many good reasons, school is not an ideal time to shack up with your soul mate.

From The Daily Beast

It was just Mike Royko and his pal, Big Shack, and whatever their bleary musings happened to be that night three years ago.

From The Daily Beast

Even the Chinese shrimp-pickers were lounging on the beach before their little shack village.

From Project Gutenberg

Bergin dug a big hole behind that ole vacant shack of hisn, and buried about a ton of tin cans.

From Project Gutenberg

After breakfast fixed up shack—shelves, benches, tools, etc.

From Project Gutenberg

All clear, Tom called, and there was a sudden rush of wet figures for the poor sanctuary of the tumbledown shack.

From Project Gutenberg

But Monte come to the shack and watched Cash through a knothole the size of one eye till Cash opened up his heart and the bag.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cabin
• cottage
• hut
• lean-to
• shed
• shelter