sheepshank

English
WOTD – 26 October 2019

Etymology
A sheepshank

Originally sheepshank knot or sheepshanks knot, from sheep +‎ shank (“part of the leg between the knee and ankle”);[1] the connection between the knot and a sheep’s leg is unclear.

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈʃiːpʃæŋk/
  • Audio (RP)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈʃipˌʃæŋk/
  • Hyphenation: sheep‧shank

Noun

sheepshank (plural sheepshanks)

  1. (nautical) A type of knot which is useful for shortening a rope or taking up slack without cutting it.

Coordinate terms

Translations

Verb

sheepshank (third-person singular simple present sheepshanks, present participle sheepshanking, simple past and past participle sheepshanked)

  1. (transitive) To shorten (a rope) using a sheepshank knot.

Translations

References
  1. “sheepshank, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1914; “sheepshank, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading
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