shack
English · Français · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
shack¹
- /ʃæk/
Rhymes with -æk
Where it comes from
Unknown. Some scholars derive this word from Mexican Spanish jacal, from Nahuatl xacalli (“adobe hut”).
Alternatively, the word may instead come from ramshackle/ramshackly (e.g., old ramshackly house) or perhaps it may be a back-formation from shackly.
Compare Tavringer Romani hak (“place, house”), Traveller Norwegian hak (“place”).
noun shacks
- A crude, roughly built hut or cabin. The men resided in a huge bunk house, which consisted of one room only, with a shack outside where the cooking was done. In the large room were a dozen bunks ; half of them in a very dishevelled state, […]
- Any poorly constructed or poorly furnished building. The stations are generally very poor, even for a branch line; some are mere wooden shacks, and Moniaive itself is one of the least prepossessing terminal stations I have ever seen.
- The room from which a ham radio operator transmits.
verb shacks · shacking · shacked
- To live (in or with); to shack up.
shack²
- /ʃæk/
Rhymes with -æk
Where it comes from
Obsolete variant of shake. Compare Scots shag (“refuse of barley or oats”).
noun shacks
- Grain fallen to the ground and left after harvest.
- Nuts which have fallen to the ground.
- Freedom to pasturage in order to feed upon shack. […] first comes the case of tenants with a customary right to shack their sheep and cattle who have overburdened the fields with a larger number of beasts than their tenement entitles them to, or who have allowed their beasts to feed in the field out of shack time.
- A shiftless fellow; a low, itinerant beggar; a vagabond; a tramp. Some peple hev a fakilty two get along into the world, whilst others air poor shacks & good for nothing.
- Bait that can be picked up at sea.
- A drink, especially an alcoholic one.
verb shacks · shacking · shacked
- To shed or fall, as corn or grain at harvest.
- To feed in stubble, or upon waste. They [turkeys] are then sold‥to the larger farmers to ‘shack’ upon the barley or oat stubbles.
- To wander as a vagabond or tramp.
- To hibernate; to go into winter quarters.
- To drink, especially alcohol.
shack³
- /ʃæk/
Rhymes with -æk
Where it comes from
From shagged or shagged out.
adjective more shack · most shack
- Alternative form of shag (“exhausted; tiring”).
Shack⁴
proper noun Shacks
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: shanty, hut, hutch, hovel, inhabit, populate, reside, trail, people, trudge, live, dwell, lodge, cottage, cabin, bunkhouse
Translations
Every language
noun crude hut
| Español | barraca, cambuche, casa bruja, chabola, champa, jacal |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 판잣집 panjatjip, 소옥 sook, 오두막 odumak |
| 日本語 | 小屋 koya, 仮小屋 karigoya, 掘っ立て小屋 hottategoya |
| 中文 | 寮 liáo, 棚屋 péngwū, 棚子 péngzi, 棚戶 /棚户 pénghù |
| हिन्दी | झुग्गी jhuggī, झुगिया jhugiyā, झोपड़ी jhopṛī, कुटिया kuṭiyā |
| Português | barraco, choupana, cabana, casebre, tugúrio |
| Français | cabanon, baraque |
| Deutsch | Hütte, Bude |
| Italiano | topaia, stamberga, capannone, baracca, tugurio, capanno |
| Ελληνικά | καλύβα kalýva |
| Română | baracă, colibă |
| Русский | лачу́га lačúga, хи́жина xížina, хиба́рка xibárka, халу́па xalúpa, ха́тка xátka, время́нка vremjánka |
| Tiếng Việt | chòi, lán |
| العربية | كُوخ kūḵ, تَخْشِيبَة taḵšība |
| עברית | צְרִיף tsrif |
Talk about this word "shack." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/shack. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. shack. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/shack "shack." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/shack.Cite this
@misc{shack_2026,
title = {shack},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/shack},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
