shack

¹

[ shak ]

noun

1. a rough cabin; shanty.
2. Informal. radio shack.

verb phrase

1. Slang.
   1. to live together as spouses without being legally married.
   2. to have illicit sexual relations.
   3. to live in a shack:

      He's shacked up in the mountains.

shack

²

[ shak ]

verb (used with object)

, Informal.

1. to chase and throw back; to retrieve:

   to shack a ground ball.

shack

¹

/ ʃæk /

noun

1. a roughly built hut
2. temporary accommodation put together by squatters

verb

1. See shack up

shack

²

/ ʃæk /

verb

1. dialect.
   to evade (work or responsibility)

Word History and Origins

Origin of shack¹

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

Origin of shack²

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of shack¹

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

Example Sentences

The fast-casual burger spot Shake Shack closed nine underperforming restaurants in September, including five in the Los Angeles area.

From Los Angeles Times

“We’ve had no power for six days”, she says, brewing coffee on a makeshift charcoal stove inside her breeze-block, tin-roofed shack.

From BBC

The snack shack is a few feet away.

From Los Angeles Times

On the outside of the snack shack at Sherman Oaks Little League, a plaque honors “the incredible volunteers who have put out countless hours to help create an amazing place for our children.”

From Los Angeles Times

She kept the title she had originally chosen — "Whose Names Are Unknown" — which was based on an eviction notice she had seen on a decrepit worker’s shack on a corporate farm, a notice that read “To John Doe and Mary Doe whose true names are unknown.”

From Salon

Related Words

• cabin
• cottage
• hut
• lean-to
• shed
• shelter