shack
1 Americanverb (used with object)
noun
-
a roughly built hut
-
temporary accommodation put together by squatters
verb
verb
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
Explanation
A shack is a small, rundown building used as a shelter. To shack is to live somewhere. If you tell your parents you want to shack up with your best friend, prepare to get grounded. A shack is a tiny, crude shelter that one person might be living in. It’s not well maintained, and it probably has peeling paint and a leaky roof. A shack is a big step below a house and a small step above a refrigerator box. To shack is to live somewhere, especially somewhere that's not nice. Shacking up is kind of like crashing on someone’s couch, or living somewhere temporarily.
Vocabulary lists containing shack
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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.
He lives in a shack without running water and sees his family at best every six months.
From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026
The South Carolina crab shack fried green tomatoes with a ramekin of remoulade.
From Salon • Feb. 18, 2026
The FBI had tracked the Unabomber futilely for 18 years before his capture in a hermit’s shack in Montana in April 1996.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2026
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 • Jan. 17, 2026
I was about a half mile away from the shack when my ears picked up the rumbling of wheels and the thunder of hooves.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
