sheepshank
Syllables: sheep·shank/ˈʃiːpʃæŋk/US/ˈʃipˌʃæŋk/
sheepshank noun: a type of knot which is useful for shortening a rope or taking up slack without cutting it.
Noun
sheepshank (plural sheepshanks)
Verb
sheepshank (third-person singular simple present sheepshanks, present participle sheepshanking, simple past and past participle sheepshanked)
Forms of sheepshank
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sheepshanks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | sheepshanks |
| present participle | sheepshanking |
| past participle | sheepshanked |
| past | sheepshanked |
Origin of sheepshank
Originally sheepshank knot or sheepshanks knot, from sheep + shank (“part of the leg between the knee and ankle”); the connection between the knot and a sheep’s leg is unclear.
Questions about sheepshank
- What does sheepshank mean?
- Sheepshank means a type of knot which is useful for shortening a rope or taking up slack without cutting it.
- What part of speech is sheepshank?
- Sheepshank can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce sheepshank?
- Sheepshank is pronounced /ˈʃiːpʃæŋk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of sheepshank?
- The plural of sheepshank is sheepshanks.
Words near sheepshank in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sheepshank (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-sheepshank.oga.
Cite this entry: “sheepshank.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sheepshank. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.