shack

[ shak ]

/ ʃæk /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR shack ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a rough cabin; shanty.

Informal. radio shack.

Verb Phrases

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.

Words nearby shack

shabu-shabu, shabuoth, shacharis, shacharith, shache, shack, shack up, shack-tapping, shacket, shackle, shackleton

Origin of shack

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

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

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shack

For many, many good reasons, school is not an ideal time to shack up with your soul mate.
Dear Princeton Mom, Stop Telling Me To Husband-Hunt|Emily Shire|February 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Heading into the small makeshift kitchen inside his shack he retrieved a large jar of polenta.
Two Chickens, an Old Guitar, and a Group of Strangers: A Life-Changing Feast in Brazil|Annabel Langbein|November 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
“Yet on May 23, 1976, a Sunday morning, 300 heavily armed soldiers with police vans surrounded our shack,” writes Jalics.
Argentina’s Dirty War Casts a Pall Over Bergoglio|Christopher Dickey|March 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
So duck into parm and sandwich Little Italy and NOLA together, or grab him a burger from the shack where the lines take forever.
Band of Outsiders Stages Scavenger Hunt for Fall 2013 Collection|Misty White Sidell|February 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Supermodel Roommates: Models Cara Delevingne and Georgia May Jagger are about to shack up….
Marc Jacobs for Diet Coke, Delevingne and Jagger Shack Up|The Fashion Beast Team|February 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Yet she looked again at his shack, with her lower lip in the bite of her teeth.
The Peace of Roaring River|George van Schaick
The little party now proceeded to creep around to the front of the shack.
The Banner Boy Scouts Snowbound|George A. Warren
Even this did not waken him, though he thought he was back at the shack by the tar kiln.
Ralph Granger's Fortunes|William Perry Brown
They passed down the pine-covered path slowly, and as they neared Gaston's shack, Filmer paused.
Joyce of the North Woods|Harriet T. Comstock
Early in the afternoon, on looking out the shack door, I saw a tangle of clouds on the sky-line.
The Prairie Wife|Arthur Stringer

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

shack

noun

Verb Phrases

Words related to shack

Words nearby shack

Origin of shack

Definition for shack (2 of 2)

verb (used with object) Informal.

Origin of shack

Examples from the Web for shack

British Dictionary definitions for shack (1 of 2)

noun

verb

Word Origin for shack

British Dictionary definitions for shack (2 of 2)

verb