shin splints

American

noun

(used with a plural verb)

a painful condition of the front lower leg, associated with tendinitis, stress fractures, or muscle strain, often occurring as a result of running or other strenuous athletic activity, especially on a nonresilient surface.

shin splints British

noun

(functioning as singular or plural) a painful swelling of the front lower leg, associated with muscle or bone inflammation, and common among athletes and other sportspeople

"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

Etymology

Origin of shin splints

First recorded in 1940–45

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.

See Examples For:

shin splints

A potential future major contender missing from this year's Wimbledon is 21-year-old American Sebastian Korda, who pulled out on Monday because of "terrible shin splints and beaten-up feet".

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2022

In addition to the kind of pain Liem described, other signs of overexercise can include shin splints, tendinitis and stress fractures.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 18, 2022

That said, I find the most common reasons people develop shin splints are errors in programming their training.

From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2022

She gets hurt on tour, suffering debilitating shin splints and tearing ligaments around an ankle.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 24, 2021

So, Ellis’s field hockey is her introduction to words like starting, varsity and shin splints.

From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023