shack

1
[ shak ]
See synonyms for shack on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a rough cabin; shanty.

  2. Informal. radio shack.

Verb Phrases
  1. shack up, Slang.

    • to live together as spouses without being legally married.

    • to have illicit sexual relations.

    • to live in a shack: He's shacked up in the mountains.

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

Other definitions for shack (2 of 2)

shack2
[ shak ]

verb (used with object)Informal.
  1. 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. 2024

How to use shack in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for shack (1 of 2)

shack1

/ (ʃæk) /


noun
  1. a roughly built hut

  2. Southern African temporary accommodation put together by squatters

verb

Origin of shack

1
C19: perhaps from dialect shackly ramshackle, from dialect shack to shake

British Dictionary definitions for shack (2 of 2)

shack2

/ (ʃæk) /


verb
  1. 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