hank
noun
a skein, as of thread or yarn.
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hank
1 American
[hangk]
/ hæŋk /
noun
hanks
plural
-
a skein, as of thread or yarn.
-
a definite length of thread or yarn.
A hank of cotton yarn measures 840 yards.
-
a coil, knot, or loop.
a hank of hair.
-
Nautical. a ring, link, or shackle for securing the luff of a staysail or jib to its stay or the luff or head of a gaff sail to the mast or gaff.
verb (used with object)
Hank
2
American
[hangk]
/ hæŋk /
noun
hank
British
/ hæŋk /
noun
-
a loop, coil, or skein, as of rope, wool, or yarn
-
nautical a ringlike fitting that can be opened to admit a stay for attaching the luff of a sail
-
a unit of measurement of cloth, yarn, etc, such as a length of 840 yards (767 m) of cotton or 560 yards (512 m) of worsted yarn
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hank
1175–1225; Middle English < Old Norse hǫnk hank, coil, skein, clasp; akin to hang
Vocabulary lists containing hank
"The Ravine," Vocabulary from the short story
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Novel Study: Harriet Tubman, Chapters 1–10
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"We will continue our plans to celebrate the memory of hank Aaron during this season’s All-Star festivities," Manfredi said.
From Fox News ● Apr. 5, 2021
My mother twisted another thick hank of hair into a scrap of cotton and sighed.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2016
He sweeps a hank of dark hair out of his eyes.
From Washington Post ● May 3, 2016
Put hank in the big Apple where he belongs.
From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2016
The defenders had built watchfires along the hank, and perhaps the Lannisters thought to find them night-blind or unwary.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
About six years ago, Hank became uncharacteristically forgetful and talked about his “fuzzy brain.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
It’s a rare case of a revival that actually works, as Hank, Peggy and Bobby Hill have all grown older but not necessarily wiser.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
Alumni lounge in camping chairs around dozens of chatty college dads who look like Hank Schrader from Breaking Bad.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
What would it feel like to spend a life understanding that your desire makes you contagious, as Hank does?
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
“Tomorrow it is, Hank Hooperman. Tomorrow it is.”
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
Either way, the onetime roommates and bandmates pioneered a discomfiting broken-doll aesthetic of smudged eyeliner, smeared lipstick and plastic barrettes clipped to hanks of bleached-out hair.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026
Krymov is 67, with hanks of pale hair sweeping across a broad forehead.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 1, 2022
"This is just who I am!" she says, those wide eyes getting even wider, hanks of blond hair bobbing atop her head like leaves on a palm tree.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 21, 2011
The paint seems to metamorphose into different things, including hanks of hair, statue-topped pedestals and piles of excrement.
From New York Times ● Mar. 25, 2011
Inspired by asymmetrical Indian coiffures, seventeenth-century London blades wore long, loose hanks of hair known as “lovelocks.”
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
