A shank is the part of your leg between your knee and ankle, also called your shin. If you've ever bumped your shin against a coffee table, you know exactly where your shank is. The bone you can feel right under the skin there is your shinbone.

The word also refers to the long, straight part of many tools and objects. The shank of a screwdriver is the metal shaft between the handle and the tip. The shank of a fishhook is the straight section between the eye (where you tie the line) and the curved part. When a cobbler talks about the shank of a shoe, they mean the supportive part under the arch of your foot.

In cooking, a lamb shank or beef shank is a cut of meat from the leg of the animal. These cuts include the bone and the tough meat around it, which becomes tender and flavorful when cooked slowly.

As a verb, shank can mean hitting something so it goes sideways or off-course. In golf, when someone shanks the ball, they hit it badly so it flies off at a wrong angle instead of going straight toward the target. The term captures that frustrating moment when your carefully planned shot goes completely wrong.