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

In the snack shack, moms and dads work.

From Los Angeles Times

At the end of the short trail, the fuel offered inside Saar’s compact service station, a shiny tin shack sheltered among trees, is spiritual nourishment.

From Los Angeles Times

The setting allows White to indulge in commentary about misguiding Western hierarchal assumptions, primarily turning up in the form of old bald white men shacking up with young women from Thailand or elsewhere.

From Salon

In the meantime, the gobies are shacking up at Santa Monica’s Heal the Bay Aquarium and the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

From Los Angeles Times

One of Malibu’s famed “seafood shacks,” the Reel Inn burned down, its owners confirmed on Instagram.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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