shanking, vbl. n.
(ˈʃæŋkɪŋ)
[f. shank v. + -ing1.]
1. (See quot. 1846. Cf. shank v. 2.)
| 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 462 That shanking (shrivelling) may not be induced in the berries. 1846 G. W. Johnson Dict. Mod. Gard. 593 Shanking is the technical term for a gangrene which attacks the footstalks of grapes and the stems of cabbages which have vegetated through the winter. |
2. The action or process of using the pliers called shanks: see shank n. 7 c.
| 1850 [see nibbling vbl. n. 2]. |
3. The process of making tobacco-pipe-shanks. In quots. attrib.
| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xxii. (Roxb.) 271/2 A Shanking or smoothing board..is that on which their clay is rolled to the length of their shankes. Ibid. 272/1 A Shanking Wyer..is onely a plaine smooth wyer, by which the hole is made through the pipe Shank. Ibid., A Pen knife, or a Shanking knife. Ibid., The third is a Shanking toole. |
4. Golf. The action of striking (the ball) with the heel of the club.
| 1924 C. J. H. Tolley Mod. Golfer 247 Shanking is a fault which is frequently occurring. 1942 Sun (Baltimore) 8 July 12/6 Shanking, in golf, is hitting the ball deep in the heel of the club, thereby causing the ball to fly away at a right angle. 1976 Sunday Mail (Glasgow) 26 Dec. 34/2 Norman..had a comparatively poor season last year..(mainly due to a bout of shanking which he is convinced has cleared). |