sheepshank

English

WOTD – 26 October 2019

Etymology

A 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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʃiːpʃæŋk/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈʃipˌʃæŋk/
• Hyphenation: sheep‧shank

Noun

sheepshank (plural sheepshanks)

1. (nautical) A type of knot which is useful for shortening a rope or taking up slack without cutting it.

Coordinate terms

• catshank
• dogshank

Translations

type of knot

• Bulgarian: възел за скъсяване на въже m (vǎzel za skǎsjavane na vǎže)
• Dutch: trompetsteek m
• Finnish: lyhennyssolmu, trumpettisolmu
• French: nœud de jambe de chien m
• Russian: узел камикадзе m (uzel kamikadze)
• Swedish: trumpetstek c

Verb

sheepshank (third-person singular simple present sheepshanks, present participle sheepshanking, simple past and past participle sheepshanked)

1. (transitive) To shorten (a rope) using a sheepshank knot.

Translations

to shorten (a rope) using a sheepshank knot

• Bulgarian: скъсявам (bg) (skǎsjavam)

Further reading

• sheepshank on Wikipedia.Wikipedia