SHANTY

hovel, hut, hutch, shack, shanty

(noun) small crude shelter used as a dwelling

chantey, chanty, sea chantey, shanty

(noun) a rhythmical work song originally sung by sailors

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

shanty (plural shanties)

A roughly-built hut or cabin.

Synonym: shack

A rudimentary or improvised dwelling, especially one not legally owned.

(Australia, New Zealand) An unlicensed pub.

Synonym: speakeasy

Adjective

shanty (not comparable)

(US, pejorative) Living in shanties; poor, ill-mannered and violent.

Usage notes

Applied to poor Irish immigrants, from the mid-1800s.

Verb

shanty (third-person singular simple present shanties, present participle shantying, simple past and past participle shantied)

To inhabit a shanty.

Etymology 2

Noun

shanty (plural shanties)

A song a sailor sings, especially in rhythm to his work.

Synonym: sea shanty

Hypernym: work song

Etymology 3

Adjective

shanty (comparative more shanty, superlative most shanty)

Jaunty; showy.

Source: Wiktionary


Shan"ty, a.

Definition: Jaunty; showy. [Prov. Eng.]

Shan"ty, n.;pl. Shanties. Etym: [Said to be fr. Ir. sean old + tig. a house.]

Definition: A small, mean dwelling; a rough, slight building for temporary use; a hut.

Shan"ty, v. i.

Definition: To inhabit a shanty. S. H. Hammond.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 April 2025

UNMARRIED

(adjective) not married or related to the unmarried state; “unmarried men and women”; “unmarried life”; “sex and the single girl”; “single parenthood”; “are you married or single?”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the largest collection of coffee pots belongs to Robert Dahl (Germany) and consists of 27,390 coffee pots as of 2 November 2012, in Rövershagen, Germany.

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