shack

¹

[shak]

noun

1. a rough cabin; shanty.

2. Informal.,  radio shack.

verb phrase

1. shack up

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

Origin of shack²

1825–35, 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

Two days after the incident, Mr Singh and his family, which includes his two-year-old grandson, moved to a bamboo-and-tarpaulin shack, which they set up on a patch of land a few meters from his house.

From BBC

At the moment he lives in the shadow of his former home, where other former Usindiso building residents have put up shacks in an informal settlement known as Emaxhoseni.

From BBC

They slept in rickety shacks, used communal bathrooms and showered in water that “was a very nice shade of brown,” Carter remembered with a laugh.

From Los Angeles Times

The best brunches in L.A. include seafood towers at a Virgil Village clam shack, live jazz and bottomless mimosas in Sherman Oaks and tableside cinnamon rolls and Bloody Marys in Brentwood, plus much more.

From Los Angeles Times

This summer, that vision becomes reality as Soul & Smoke, the beloved casual BBQ joint from Evanston, Illinois, expands its flagship location—turning a once-humble smoke shack into a destination for refined, fire-driven dining.

From Salon

Related Words

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