as in knife
an instrument with a metal length that has a sharp edge for cutting
slashed at the prison guard with a shank he had secretly made from a scrap of metal
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Recent Examples of shank
The joint motors enable 12 degrees of freedom, translating to a motion range from -58° to plus 58° at the body, -134 to 180°/-89 to 225° at the thighs, and -158 to -30° at the shank.
—
New Atlas, 6 Aug. 2025
Going 8-over through three holes means multiple double bogeys or worse, and five shanks, where the ball rockets off the hosel, are enough to rattle any player's confidence.
—Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
Metal detectors had been tuned to be more sensitive, and the metal shank inside the soles of many shoes, installed to provide support, often set them off.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 10 July 2025
Each probe consists of four parallel shanks, and each shank is studded with 1,280 electrodes.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 May 2022
See All Example Sentences for shank
New Atlas, 6 Aug. 2025
Going 8-over through three holes means multiple double bogeys or worse, and five shanks, where the ball rockets off the hosel, are enough to rattle any player's confidence.
—Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
Metal detectors had been tuned to be more sensitive, and the metal shank inside the soles of many shoes, installed to provide support, often set them off.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 10 July 2025
Each probe consists of four parallel shanks, and each shank is studded with 1,280 electrodes.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 May 2022
See All Example Sentences for shank
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shank
Noun
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Plus, grab knife sets and a nifty electric can opener to streamline your cooking.—
Alicia Geigel,
Southern Living,
16 Sep. 2025
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Zarutska, 23, died in a public knife attack on Charlotte Area Transit System’s Lynx Blue Line in late August, and her death heightened discussions about safety on and near the city’s public transit.—
Julia Coin,
Charlotte Observer,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Compared to the cutter, which hit the zone 57% of the time, his changeup had a stark 17% zone rate.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
13 Sep. 2025
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Sauer has six pitches in his arsenal, mainly relying on a cutter, four-seam fastball, slider and sinker while also mixing in a split finger and occasional curveball.—
Noah Camras,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shank.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shank. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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