different between shank vs knob

English

Etymology

From Middle English schanke, from Old English s?anca (“leg”), from Proto-West Germanic *skank?, from Proto-Germanic *skankô (compare West Frisian skonk, Low German Schanke, German Schenkel (“shank, leg”), Norwegian skank), from *skankaz (compare Old Norse skakkr (“wry, crooked”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keng- (compare Middle Irish scingim (“I spring”), Ancient Greek ????? (skáz?, “to limp”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?æ?k/
• Rhymes: -æ?k

Noun

shank (plural shanks)

1. The part of the leg between the knee and the ankle.
2. Meat from that part of an animal.
3. (ornithology, colloquial) A redshank or greenshank, various species of Old World wading birds in the genus Tringa having distinctly colored legs.
4. A straight, narrow part of an object, such as a key or an anchor; shaft; stem.
5. The handle of a pair of shears, connecting the ride to the neck.
6. The center part of a fishhook between the eye and the hook, the 'hook' being the curved part that bends toward the point.
7. A protruding part of an object, by which it is or can be attached.
8. The metal part on a curb bit that falls below the mouthpiece, which length controls the severity of the leverage action of the bit, and to which the reins of the bridle are attached.
9. (sports) A poorly played golf shot in which the ball is struck by the part of the club head that connects to the shaft.
10. (slang) An improvised stabbing weapon; a shiv.
11. A loop forming an eye to a button.
12. (architecture) The space between two channels of the Doric triglyph.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Gwilt to this entry?)

13. (metalworking) A large ladle for molten metal, fitted with long bars for handling it.
14. (printing, dated) The body of a type; between the shoulder and the foot.
15. (shoemaking) The part of the sole beneath the instep connecting the broader front part with the heel.
16. Flat-nosed pliers, used by opticians for nipping off the edges of pieces of glass to make them round.
17. The end or remainder, particularly of a period of time.
18. The main part or beginning of a period of time.

Synonyms

(improvised stabbing weapon): shiv (slang)

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

shank (third-person singular simple present shanks, present participle shanking, simple past and past participle shanked)

1. (archaic, Ulster) To travel on foot.
2. (slang) To stab, especially with an improvised blade.
3. (slang) To remove another's trousers, especially in jest; to depants.
4. (transitive, golf) To misstrike the ball with the part of the club head that connects to the shaft.
5. (transitive, chiefly tennis, soccer, gridiron football) To hit or kick the ball in an unintended direction.
6. (intransitive) To fall off, as a leaf, flower, or capsule, on account of disease affecting the supporting footstalk; usually followed by off.
   • 1861, Charles Darwin, Cause of the variation of flowers

     the gerrnens of these swelled, and on four out of the six I have now got fine pods, above 1% inch in length, with the seeds externally visible; whereas the flower stalks of the many other flowers all shanked off.

7. (transitive, sewing) To provide (a button) with a shank (loop forming an eye).
   • 2000, The Indian Textile Journal (volume 110, issues 7-12)

     The system is suitable for shanking all kind of sewn buttons (jackets, coats, blouses, shirts, trousers).

8. (shoemaking) To apply the shank to a shoe, during the process of manufacturing it.
   • 1986 March 6, "Factory Work" [Poetry, 147], quoted in 2009, Deborah Boe, The Girl of the Early Race: Poems, Gegensatz Press (?ISBN):

     I take those metal shanks, slide the backs of them in glue and make them lie down on the shoe-bottoms, […] Last week they ran a contest to see which shankers shanked fastest. I'm not embarrassed to say I beat them all.

Synonyms

(to stab with an improvised weapon): shiv (slang)

(to remove another's pants): depants (slang)

Adjective

shank (comparative shanker, superlative shankest)

1. (slang) Bad.

See also

• shank it
• (poorly played golf shot): thin, fat, toe

Anagrams

• Hanks, Naskh, ankhs, hanks, khans

English

Etymology

From Middle English knobbe, from Middle Low German knobbe (“knob; knot in wood”). Cognate with Dutch knob, knobbel (“knob”), German Knubbe, Knubbel (“knob”). See also knop.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: n?b, IPA^(key): /n?b/
• (US) enPR: n?b, IPA^(key): /n?b/
• Rhymes: -?b
• Homophone: nob

Noun

knob (plural knobs)

1. A rounded protuberance, especially one arising from a flat surface; a fleshy lump or caruncle.
2. A rounded control switch that can be turned on its axis, designed to be operated by the fingers.
3. A ball-shaped part of a handle, lever, etc., designed to be grabbed by the hand.
4. A rounded ornament on the hilt of an edged weapon; a pommel.
5. A prominent, rounded bump along a mountain ridge.
6. (geography) A prominent rounded hill.
   • 2011, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Pulphead, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, p. 144:

     We climbed to the top of Slate Hill, the highest knob in our town, and Ricky gave me a whole talk on how slate formed, how it was and was not shale.

7. (slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.
8. (vulgar, slang, chiefly Britain) The penis.
9. (vulgar, slang) The head of the penis; the glans.
10. (slang, derogatory, by analogy with above) A contemptible person.
11. (cooking) A dollop, an amount just larger than a spoonful (usually referring to butter).
12. A chunky branch-like piece, especially of a ginger rhizome.
    • 2001, David Joachim, The Clever Cook's Kitchen Handbook

      Place whole, unpeeled knobs of ginger in a zipper-lock freezer bag for up to 3 months. Slice or break off what you need and return the rest to the freezer.

13. A bulb of the garlic plant consisting of multiple cloves.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:penis

Derived terms

• doorknob
• drawknob
• knob-and-tube
• knobhead

Translations

Verb

knob (third-person singular simple present knobs, present participle knobbing, simple past and past participle knobbed)

1. (Britain, slang, vulgar, of a man) To have sex with.

Synonyms

• dick, get up in, schlong; see also Thesaurus:copulate with

Anagrams

• Bonk, bonk

Danish

Etymology

From Middle Low German kn?p (“knot”), probably via Old Saxon from a variant of Proto-Germanic *knappô (“knob, lump”). Compare Dutch knoop and Swedish knop.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kno?b/, [k?no??b?]

Noun

knob n or c

1. knot (nautical unit of speed)
2. knot (some specific type of looping of a rope)

Usage notes

In the sense speed unit, it is common gender; the plural indefinite form is knob; no definite forms. In the sense looping of a rope it is neuter gender.

Inflection

Synonyms

• (knot): knude

Further reading

• knob on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da
• Knob (fart) on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “knob”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Middle English

Noun

knob

1. Alternative form of knobbe