What Does Shank Mean?

The word "shank" is a noun that refers to a number of things. It refers to the area of the human leg that is located between the ankle and the knee. It can also be used to refer to the same body part found in other vertebrates. Shank can also be used to refer to the entire human leg or some leg like part. Shank is also used by the food processing industry and butchers in particular to refer to a cut of meat from the same area of the body as mentioned above from a sheep, steer, lamb and calves.

Shank also refers to the narrow long part of pins or nails. In plants it is used to refer to the stalk or stem. In nautical references the stem part of an anchor is referred to as a shank. Tobacco pipes have shanks as well; it is the name of the pipe that lies between their stem and bowl. Shank can mean a number of other things as well.