Dictionary.com

shack

1
[ shak ]
/ ʃæk /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR shack

noun

a rough cabin; shanty.
Informal. radio shack.

Verb Phrases

shack up, 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.

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Origin of shack

1
1875–80, Americanism; compare earlier shackly rickety, probably akin to ramshackle (Mexican Spanish jacal “hut” is a phonetically impossible source)

Words nearby shack

Shabuoth, shabu-shabu, Shacharis, Shacharith, Shache, shack, shacket, shackle, Shackleton, shacko, shack-tapping

Definition for shack (2 of 2)

shack2
[ shak ]
/ ʃæk /

verb (used with object) Informal.

to chase and throw back; to retrieve: to shack a ground ball.

Origin of shack

2
1825–35, Americanism; apparently special use of dial. shack to shake
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to shack

shed, shelter, lean-to, hut, cottage, cabin, camp

Example sentences from the Web for shack

British Dictionary definitions for shack (1 of 2)

shack1
/ (ʃæk) /

noun

a roughly built hut
Southern African temporary accommodation put together by squatters

verb

See shack up

Word Origin for shack

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

British Dictionary definitions for shack (2 of 2)

shack2
/ (ʃæk) /

verb

Midland English dialect to evade (work or responsibility)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012