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

I wasn’t anxious to go in now, because Cully’s place—no more than a shack—leaned considerably to the right.

From Literature

Our new school was little more than a series of shacks, like a poor cousin of our old one in Sogakope, and there were never enough teachers.

From Literature

The roof was lifting off the little shack.

From Literature

From a wooden shack atop the stadium, John Mellencamp has overseen the team’s transformation from laughingstock to No. 1.

From The Wall Street Journal

In recent years, the school gifted the Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer a wooden shack affixed to the top of the stadium.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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