shack up
Britishverb
-
Sleep together or live in sexual intimacy without being married. For example, They had been dating for two months and then decided to shack up . [ Slang ; first half of 1900s]
-
Stay or reside with, as in I'm shacking up with my cousin till I find a place of my own . [ Slang ; first half of 1900s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This takes a bizarrely conventional turn in his courtship of Elsa, whom he doesn’t merely shack up with but marries.
From New York Times ● Mar. 15, 2023
I hadn’t been downtown too long, so I figured I’d shack up with him for a minute.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 22, 2018
In 1968, Yarnall starred opposite Presley in “Live a Little, Love a Little” as Ellen, who memorably insists she can’t shack up with the star’s character because he’s a Sagittarius.
From Fox News ● Oct. 10, 2018
They need to also offer evidence that letting the number three and four mobile carriers shack up will actually be good for the country.
From Slate ● May 2, 2018
A strong wind could whisk the shack up into the sky, scattering it in a burst of pieces.
From "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
