hank

noun

ˈhaŋk 

1

: coil, loop

specifically : a coiled or looped bundle (as of yarn) usually containing a definite yardage

2

: any of a series of rings or clips by which a jib or staysail is attached to a stay

Examples of hank in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Kim lets out a sob and a hank of Natalie’s hair clings to her tears. — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 10 Dec. 2025

There was no one else on the strand, the surf a sickly yellow foam bubbling between the matted black hanks of seaweed heaped on the beach. — Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 21 Apr. 2022

In one of its spreads, a burst of light on muddy asphalt abuts a jumble of walls and fences, rain pounding a limousine, and a spatter of paint with a hank of rope. — Leo Rubinfien, The New York Review of Books, 11 Feb. 2021

If a breeze is blowing, the air fills with the clamoring of jib hanks. — Joe Kloc, Harper's magazine, 10 June 2019

Open the other days of the week, the Shaker Store sells hanks of yarn, Shaker seeds, herbal teas, and Shaker brooms. — Patricia Harris and David Lyon, BostonGlobe.com, 21 June 2018

One photograph from the era shows a woman standing in a village as two men forcibly restrain her wrists; a third man grabs a hank of her blonde hair, his scissors poised to hack it away. — Ann Mah, Time, 6 June 2018

The next morning, the police and Victoria’s parents found articles of the girl’s clothing and a bloody hank of hair on a road near a sand pit in Mahwah. — David Stout, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2017

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse hǫnk hank; akin to Old English hangian to hang

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for hank

• banc
• bank
• blank
• clank
• crank
• dank
• drank
• flank
• franc
• lank
• plank
• prank

Kids Definition

hank

noun

ˈhaŋk 

: coil entry 2 sense 1a, skein

especially : a coil of yarn