hanky-pank
hanky-pank noun: synonym of hanky-panky.
Noun
hanky-pank (countable and uncountable, plural hanky-panks)
- Synonym of hanky-panky.
- He was interested at once, and also at once made proclamation that all such performances were "hanky-pank," and that he could duplicate any of them.1920, William Dunseath Eaton, Spirit Life: Or, Do We Die?, page 264
- In specific explanation of Kaplan's wire of 10:30, Long testified that Kaplan returned his call shortly before 10:30 and that, after reviewing the developments beginning with Babcock's wire to Kaplan the previous afternoon, he and Kaplan concluded that there was some “hanky-pank going on” looking...1972, Decisions and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board
- Synonyms:
- hanky-panky
- A carnival game which guarantees a winner.
- That means if you book a couple of games of hanky pank, I'll allow you to book an alibi with them so if the kids win something we will rip off dad, that seems fair.1981, California Legislature. Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification, Meeting, California State Legislature, Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification
- The carny's goal is to get you to keep playing the game, and plunking down cash, until you get enough credits to trade up to a better prize. For this reason, hanky-panks are commonly referred to as trade-ups. The classic hanky-pank is Duck Pond (sometimes played as Fish Pond).2003, Bret Witter, Carnival Undercover, page 88
- A nonce word.
- ... him that that was none of his dad-blamed hanky-pank business, although I ached to tell him that and several other things.1906, The Postal Record - Volume 19, page 210
- Look here," said Jones ; " I don't want to be rude, but none of your hanky-pank."1911, The Motor Car Journal - Volume 13, page 613
Verb
hanky-pank (third-person singular simple present hanky-panks, present participle hanky-panking, simple past and past participle hanky-panked)
- To engage in hanky-panky.
- He knew why he was so deeply angry: this situation had corrupted a fine young engineer, had lost him to the profession, while he, Drew, had hanky-panked with the enemy in the deluded belief that the conflict was not real.1970, Borden Deal -, Interstate, page 362
- A man who hated communism and never "hanky-panked" with his secretary despite her "God- given beauty."1990 -, Ellen Goodman, Making Sense, →ISBN, page 41
Examples of hanky-pank in a sentence
- Defendant was not permitted to ask Rossman whether any “hanky-pank” had gone on in the Rossman vehicle.1973, North western reporter. Second series. N.W. 2d. Cases argued and determined in the courts of Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska...
- "This here 'Fish the Bottle' is hanky-pank," Tommy noted, which in the carney's twisted lingo meant it was honest.2008, Darryl Wimberley, Kaleidoscope, page 96:
- They had closed up their hanky-panks, grab-joints, pitch-and-dunks, pokerino parlours, had turned off the lights and killed the music and folded up the gaudy glamour.2012, Dean Koontz, Twilight Eyes, →ISBN:
- A person in innocent until proven guilty, if you hanky-panked 20 years ago with an office-staff member, or even tried to and was rejected , you are part, of an unusual group of phylum humn being.1995, United States Congress Senate Select Committee on Ethics, Documents Related to the Investigation of Senator Robert Packwood:
Synonyms of hanky-pank
Forms of hanky-pank
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | hanky-panks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | hanky-panks |
| present participle | hanky-panking |
| past participle | hanky-panked |
| past | hanky-panked |
Origin of hanky-pank
Clipping of hanky-panky
Questions about hanky-pank
- What does hanky-pank mean?
- Hanky-pank means synonym of hanky-panky.
- How do you use hanky-pank in a sentence?
- Defendant was not permitted to ask Rossman whether any “hanky-pank” had gone on in the Rossman vehicle.
- What part of speech is hanky-pank?
- Hanky-pank can be a noun or a verb.
- What is the plural of hanky-pank?
- The plural of hanky-pank is hanky-panks.
Words near hanky-pank in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hanky-pank (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “hanky-pank.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hanky-pank. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.