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 snack shack is a few feet away.

From Los Angeles Times

In all, the resort had one, unessential ski lift damaged, while a few ski patrol and maintenance shacks burned down.

From Los Angeles Times

In a windowless shack on the far outskirts of Fresno, an ominious red glow illuminates a lab filled with X-ray machines, shelves of glowing boxes, a quietly humming incubator and a miniature wind tunnel.

From Los Angeles Times

As we went from shack to shack, mothers told us similar stories of husbands and sons who had left to become fighters, some of whom had been killed.

From BBC

“This literally is what kills me and what makes it not fun anymore. Because everybody is looking for a wolf in a sheep shack,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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