shack

/ʃæk/

/ʃæk/

Other forms: shacks; shacked; shacking

A shack is a small, rundown building used as a shelter. To shack is to live somewhere. If you tell your parents you want to shack up with your best friend, prepare to get grounded.

A shack is a tiny, crude shelter that one person might be living in. It’s not well maintained, and it probably has peeling paint and a leaky roof. A shack is a big step below a house and a small step above a refrigerator box. To shack is to live somewhere, especially somewhere that's not nice. Shacking up is kind of like crashing on someone’s couch, or living somewhere temporarily.

Definitions of shack

1. noun

   small crude shelter used as a dwelling
   synonyms: hovel, hut, hutch, shanty

   types:

   igloo, iglu

   an Inuit hut; usually built of blocks (of sod or snow) in the shape of a dome

   mudhif

   a reed hut in the marshlands of Iraq; rare since the marshes were drained

   type of:

   shelter

   a structure that provides privacy and protection from danger
2. verb

   make one's home in a particular place or community
   synonyms: domicile, domiciliate, reside

   types:

   rusticate

   live in the country and lead a rustic life

   type of:

   dwell, inhabit, live, populate

   inhabit or live in; be an inhabitant of
3. verb

   move, proceed, or walk draggingly or slowly
   synonyms: trail

   type of:

   go, locomote, move, travel

   change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically