shack

¹ American  

[shak] / ʃæk /

noun

1. a rough cabin; shanty.

2. Informal. radio shack.

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verb phrase

1. shack up

   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 American  

[shak] / ʃæk /

verb (used with object)

Informal.

1. to chase and throw back; to retrieve.

   to shack a ground ball.

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shack ¹ British  

/ ʃæk /

noun

1. a roughly built hut

2. temporary accommodation put together by squatters

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verb

1. See shack up

shack ² British  

/ ʃæk /

verb

1. dialect to evade (work or responsibility)

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Etymology

Origin of shack¹

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

Origin of shack²

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

Example Sentences

Morning walkers, political strategists and journalists gather around this nondescript shabby shack, which has been operating since 1949 and is now a legacy tourist attraction.

From BBC

There’s a shack in the middle of the course that serves sandwiches, beer, cocktails, soft drinks and so forth.

From Los Angeles Times

Across the country, there are still farms operating under 1960s standards – tin shacks, walls made of baked soil or cement bricks, and no fencing.

From BBC

From the scrappy metal shacks packed tightly on the banks of the thin Jukskei river, the sparkly skyline of Johannesburg's richest neighbourhood less than two miles away is another world.

From Barron's

Electricity is provided from solar panels, while the toilet is compostable and located in a shack outside, where a donkey, horse, dogs, cats, chickens and ducks roam a clearing among the trees.

From Barron's

Related Words

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