shack

¹

[shak]

noun

1. a rough cabin; shanty.

2. Informal.,  radio shack.

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

[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, 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of shack¹

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

Example Sentences

So high, they were exiled to an office in a shabby shack called the Hut, where their debates would not disturb others.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Over time, the camps have evolved, from the canvas tents and tin shacks of the 1950s into busy, overcrowded communities with some of the highest population densities in the world.

Read more on BBC

Many residents of densely-populated areas live in precarious conditions, treading through dust and living beneath tin shacks, a far cry from the lavish "Beverly Hills"-style villas of Cocody where ministers and football stars reside.

Read more on Barron's

Tourists see abundance — the beach houses, the boutiques, the seafood shacks — but the year-round population lives in an entirely different economy.

Read more on Salon

Authorities cleared out unsightly obstructions along the main racing routes: roadside shacks, beggars and drunks, residents said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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