shack 
field. 3. To hibernate, as an animal, especial- 
ly the bear: also said of men who ''lay up" or 
"hole up" for the winter, or go into winter 
quarters. [Western U. S.] 
shack 1 (shak),. [<. shack 1 , v.] 1. Grainfallen 
from the ear and eaten by hogs, etc., after har- 
vest; also, fallen mast or acorns. [Prov. Eng.] 
2. Liberty of winter pasturage. [Prov. Eng.] 
3. In the fisheries, bait picked up at sea by 
any means, as the flesh of porpoises or of sea- 
birds, refuse fish, etc., as distinguished from 
the regular stock of bait carried by the vessel 
or otherwise depended upon. Also shack-bait. 
[New Eng.] 4. [< shack 1 , v., 3.] A very 
roughly built house or cabin, especially such 
a one as is put up for temporary occupation 
while securing a claim under the United States 
preemption laws. [Western U. S.] 
The only . . . thing in the shape of a boat on the Little 
Missouri was a small flat-bottomed scow in the possession 
of three hard characters who lived in a shock or hut some 
twenty miles above us. The Century, XXXVI. 42. 
Common of shack, the right of persons occupying lands 
lying together in the same common field to turn out their 
cattle after harvest to feed promiscuously in that field. 
shack 2 (shak), v. [Origin obscure; perhaps a 
particular use of shack*; cf. shake and shog in 
like senses.] I. intrans. To rove about, as a 
stroller or beggar. 
II. trans. To go after, as a ball batted to a 
distance. [Local, U. S.] 
shack 2 (shak), n. [Cf. sliacTfl, v.] A strolling 
vagabond: a shiftless or worthless fellow ; a 
tramp. [Prov. Eng. and New Eng.] 
Great ladies are more apt to take sides with talking flat- 
tering Gossips than such a shack as Fitzharris. 
Roger North, Exatnen, p. 293. (Davies.) 
I don't believe Bill would have turned out such a miser- 
able shack if he'd a decent woman for a wife. 
New England Tales, 
shackaback (shak'a-bak), n. Same as shack- 
bag. [Prov. Eng.] 
shackatoryt (shak'a-to-ri), n. [Origin obscure : 
said to be "for shake a Tory" (Imp. Diet.), 
where Tory is presumably to be taken in its 
orig. sense.] An Irish hound. 
No shackatory comes neere him ; if hee once get the start, 
hee's gone, and you gone too. 
The Wandering Jew. (Salliwell.) 
That Irish shackatory beat the bush for him. 
Dekker and Middleton, Honest Whore, ii. 
shackbag (shak'bag), n. [Also shackaback, ; cf. 
shake-ran and shake-bag.'] An idle vagabond. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
shack-bait (shak'bat), n. Same as shack 1 , 3. 
shack-bolt (shak'bolt), re. Same a.sshackle-bolt,3. 
shacked (shakt), a. A dialectal variant of 
shagged. 
shack-fisherman (shak'fish"er-man), . A ves- 
sel which uses shack for bait. 
Shack-fishing (shak'fish"ing), n. Fishing with 
shack for bait. 
shackle 1 (shak'l), re. [Early mod. E. also shack- 
il; < ME. schakkyl, schakylle, schakle, scheakel, 
< AS. sceacul, scacul, sceacel, scecel, shackle, 
fetter, prob. also in the general sense, ' a link or 
ring of a chain ' (= MD. schaeckel, later schakel, a 
link of a chain, ring of a net, = Icel. skokull, the 
pole of a carriage, = Sw.skakel, the loose shaft 
of a carriage (cf. Sw. dial, skak, a chain), = 
Dan. skaale, a trace for a carriage) ; lit. ' a 
shaking thing,' with adj. suffix -ol, -ul, < sceacan, 
scacan, shake : see shake. Cf. ramshackle 1 .] 
1. A bent or curved bar, as of iron, forming a 
link or staple used independently and not form- 
ing part of a continuous chain, (a) The bar of a 
padlock which passes through the staple. (6) An iron 
link closed by a movable bolt. Shackles are mostly used 
to connect lengths of chain cable together. See cuts 
under mooring -swivel and anchor-shackle, (c) A long link 
securing two ankle-rings or wrist-rings together, or an 
ankle-ring to a wrist-ring, so as to secure a prisoner; 
hence, in the plural, fetters ; manacles. 
What, will thy shackles neither loose nor break? 
Are they too strong, or is thine arm too weak? 
Quarles, Emblems, v. 9. 
(d) A form of insulator used for supporting telegraph- 
wires where the strain is considerable. It is usually of 
porcelain, with a hole through the center through which 
a bolt passes. This bolt secures the insulating spool to 
two iron straps by which it is secured to the pole or other 
support. 
Hence 2. Figuratively, anything which hin- 
ders, restrains, or confines. 
The fetters and shackles which it [sin] brings to enslave 
men with must be looked on and admired as ornaments. 
Stillingfleet, Sermons, II. iii. 
There Death breaks the Shackles which Force had put on. 
Prior, Thief and Cordelier. 
3. In her., some part of a chain or fetter used 
as a bearing, usually a single long, narrow 
5539 
link. 4. The wrist. [Prov. Eng.]=syn. 1 (c). 
Shackle. Gyves, Manacle, Fetter. Shackle and gyves are 
general words, being' applicable to chains for either the 
arms or the legs, or perhaps any other part of the body, 
but gyves is now only elevated or poetic. By derivation, 
manacles are for the hands, and fetters for the feet. 
shackle 1 (shak'l), v. t. ; pret. and pp. shackled, 
ppr. shackling. [< ME. schakkleit, schaklen; 
< shackle^, n.] 1. To chain; confine with 
shackles; manacle or fetter; hence, figura- 
tively, to confine or bind so as to prevent or 
impede free action ; clog; embarrass; hamper; 
impede; trammel. 
You must not shackle him with rules about indifferent 
matters. Locke, Education. 
And what avails a useless brand 
Held by a captive's shackled hand? 
Scott, Kokeby.iv. 17. 
2. To join or make fast with a shackle. 
Shackle 2 (shak'l), n. [Dim. of shack 1 , or as if 
a diff. application of shackle 1 as 'that which 
shakes' in the wind, etc., < shake, v. : see shake, 
and cf. shackle' 1 .] Stubble. [Prov. Eng.] 
shackle 3 (shak'l), n. A rafBe. [Local, U. S.] 
[He] stated that he went to defendant's house on Dec. 
24, and was asked by a young man to join in a shackle for 
live tame rabbits. He consented, and a box was brought 
containing three threepenny pieces, and those who threw 
the highest gained the rabbits. 
Western Gazette, Jan. 30, 1885, quoted in N. and Q., 6th 
[ser., XI. 245. 
shackle-bar (shak'1-bar), n. The coupling-bar 
or link of a railroad-car. [U. S.] 
shackle-bolt (shak'1-bolt), n. 1. A bolt hav- 
ing a shackle or clevis on the end. 2. A bolt 
which is passed through the eyes of a clevis or 
shackle. E. H. Knight. 3. A shackle. Also 
shack-bolt. 4. In her., a bearing representing 
a fetlock for hobbling a horse. Compare span- 
celed. Also called prisoner' s-bolt. 
"What device does he bear on his shield?" replied Ivan- 
hoe. "Something resembling: a bar of iron, and a padlock 
painted blue on the black shield." "A fetterlock and 
shackle-bolt azure," said Ivanhoe ; "I know not who may 
bear the device, but well I ween it might now be mine 
own." Scott, Ivanhoe, xxix. 
shackle-bone (shak'l-bon),. [AlsoSc.*7(cA;fe- 
bane; <.shackle^ + bone 1 .] The wrist. [Scotch.] 
shackle-crow (shak'1-kro), n. A bolt-extrac- 
tor having a shackle in place of a claw, used 
on shipboard. 
shackle-flap (shak'1-flap), n. A cover for a 
manhole which is attached to the plate by a 
shackle. E. H. Knight. 
shackle-hammedt (shak'1-hamd), . Bow- 
legged. Halttwell. 
A brave dapper Dicke, . . . his head was holden uppe 
so pert, and his legges shackle-ham'd, as if his knees had 
beene laced to his thighes with points. 
Greene, Quip for Upstart Courtier (Harl. Misc., V. 403). 
shackle-jack (shak'1-jak), re. An implement 
used to attach the thills of a vehicle to the 
shackle on the axle when a box of india-rubber 
is used to prevent rattling. 
Shackle-joint (shak'l-joint), n. A joint involv- 
ing the principle of the shackle. Specifically, in 
anat., a kind of articulation, 
found in the exoskeleton of 
some fishes, formed by the 
passing of a bony ring of one 
part through a perforation of 
another part, the two being thus 
movably linked together. 
The spines of some Teleostei 
present us with a peculiar kind 
of articulation a shackle-joint, 
the base of a spine forming a 
ring which passes through an- 
other ring developed from an ossicle supporting it. 
Mivart, Elem. Anat., p. 277. 
shaddock 
The swarthy smith spits in his buckehorne flst, 
And bids his men brinjj out the five-fold twist, 
His shackles, shacklockes, hampers, gyves, and chaines, 
His linked bolts. W. Browne, Britannia's Pastorals, i. 5. 
shackly (shak'li), . [< shack 1 + -ly 1 ; cf. 
shack/el, shackling.] Shaky; rickety; totter- 
ing; ramshackle; especially, in feeble health. 
[TJ. S.] 
A very small man, slender and brittle-looking, or what 
old colored nurses call shackly. 
J. W. Palmer, The New and the Old, p. 55. 
They had come to a short lane, from the opening of 
which was visible an unpainted and shackly dwelling. 
The Century, XXXV. 672. 
shackragt (shak'rag), n. Same as shrike-rag. 
shad 1 (shad), n. sing, and pi. [Early mod. E. 
shadde, chad; < ME. "scltad, < AS. sceadda, a 
kind of fish (explained by Somner, Lye, etc., 
as a skate, but from the form prob. the shad), 
= G. dial, schade, a shad. Cf . W. ysgadenyn (pi. 
ysgadan) = Ir. Gael, sgadan, a herring.] 1. A 
clupeoid fish of the genus Alosa, in which there 
are no palatal teeth and the cheeks are deeper 
than they are long. The common shad of America, A . 
sapidissima, is one of the most important food-fishes along 
Shackle-joint of a large 
spine with a bony plate of 
the skin of a siluroid fish. 
shackle-pin (shak'1-pin), re. The small pin of 
wood or iron that confines a shackle-bolt in 
place. 
Shackle-punch (shak'l-punch), n. A punch for 
driving out shackle-bolts, 
shackle-veint (shak'1-van), re. A vein of the 
horse, apparently the median antebrachial, 
from which blood used to be let. 
The cure is thus : let him blood of his two breast vaines, 
of his two shackle vaines, and of his two vaines above the 
cronets of his hinder hooves. 
Topsell, Beasts (1607), p. 400. (Halliwett.) 
Shackling (shak'ling), a. [< shackle 1 , taken ad- 
jeetively (cf . ramshackle 1 ), + -ing%. Cf . shackly.'] 
Shackly ; rickety. [U. S.] 
The gate itself was such a shackling concern a child 
couldn't have leaned on it without breaking it down. 
J. T. Trowbridge, Coupon Bonds, p. 387. 
shack-lock (shak'lok), . [Short for shackle- 
lock, < shacklr 1 + lock 1 , n.] A shackle-bolt ; a 
sort of shackle. 
American Shad (Alosa sapidissitna). 
the Atlantic coast of the United States, and has lately been 
introduced on the Pacific coast. It is anadromous, ascend- 
ing rivers to spawn. It is usually from 18 to 28 inches long, 
of stout compressed form, the body being comparatively 
deep. The color is silvery, becoming bluish on the back, 
with a dark spot behind the opercle,and sometimes several 
others along the line dividing the color of the back from 
the white of the sides. The mouth is large, the fins are 
comparatively small, and the dorsal is much nearer to the 
snout than to the base of the caudal fin. The shad is 
taken with the seine, and is highly esteemed for its ex- 
cellent flavor. The British shad are of two species : the 
allice-shad, A. vulffaris, and the twaite, A. Jinta. The Chi- 
nese shad is A. reevesi. 
And there the eel and shad sometimes are caught. 
J. Dennys (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 171). 
2. In the Ohio valley, a clupeoid. Pomolobus 
chrysochloris, with persistent and well-devel- 
oped teeth in the premaxillaries and front of 
the lower jaw. 3. With a qualifying word, 
one of several other fishes. See gizzard-shad, 
and phrases below Green-tailed shad, hard- 
head or hard-headed Shad, the menhaden. [Local, 
U. S.] Long-boned shad, any food-fish of the family 
Gerridse or genus Gerres. as found along the Atlantic coast 
of the United States and in the Bermudas. Ohio shad, 
Pomolobus chrysochloris. See def. 2. Rebel shad, a 
small shad about as large as a herring or alewife. [Hud- 
son river.] White-eyed shad. Same as mud-shad. 
White Shad, the true shad of America. See def. 1. 
Yellow-tailed shad, the menhaden. [Local, U. S.] 
shad 2 t. A Middle English past participle of 
shed 1 . 
shad-bellied (shad'bel "id), a. 1. Having little 
abdominal protuberance : as, a shad-bellied per- 
son. 
He was kind o'mournful and thin and shad-bellied. 
H. B. Stowe, Oldtown, p. 8. 
2. Sloping away gradually in front ; cutaway: 
as, a shad-bellied coat. 
In this Livingston Company many wore three-cornered 
hats, shad-bellied coats, shoe and knee buckles. 
S. Judd, Margaret, i. 13. 
shad-bird (shad'berd), . 1. The common 
American snipe, Gallinago wilsoni or G. deli- 
cata. See cut under Gallinago. [Delaware.] 
2. The common European sandpiper, Trin- 
goides hypoleucus. [Shropshire, Eng.] Both 
birds are so called with reference to their ap- 
pearance at the shad-fishing season. 
shad-blossom (shad'blos"um), . The flower 
or bloom of the shad-bush ; also, the plant it- 
self. 
shad-bush (shad'bush), . The June-berry 
or service-berry, Amelanchier Canadensis: so 
named in New England because it blossoms 
just when shad appear in the rivers. (Gray.) 
The name is sometimes given (erroneously) to the flow- 
ering dogwood, Cornus florida. Also shad-jlomr. See cut 
under service-berry. 
shaddeH. A Middle English preterit and past 
participle of shed 1 . 
shadde 2 t, n. A Middle English form of shed?. 
shaddock (shad'ok), . [Prob. first in the comp. 
shaddock-tree; named after a Capt. Shaddock, 
who brought it to the West Indies, early in the 
18th century.] A tree, Citrus decumana, of the 
orange genus ; also, its fruit. The tree grows 30 or 
