▪ I. shin, n.1
(ʃɪn)
Forms: 1 scinu, 2 scine, scyne, 3–4 s(c)hine, 4–5 s(c)hyne, 5 schene, 5–6 schin, schyn(ne, shyn(ne, 6 shinne, 7 shinn, 6– shin.
[OE. scinu str. fem. = WFris. skine, NFris. skenn, (M)LG., MDu. schêne (Du. scheen), OHG. scina, scena, sciena shin, needle (MHG. schin(ne, G. schiene thin wooden or metal plate); MSw. skena shin, Sw. skena shin, Da. skinne splint, tire, rail, are from LG. or HG. The fundamental meaning appears to be ‘thin or narrow piece’; OE. sc{iacu}a shin and MHG. schîe hedge-stake are app. related.]
1. a. The front part of the human leg between the knee and the ankle; the front or sharp edge of the shank-bone.
Occas. used of analogous parts of birds and insects.
| a 1000 Ags. Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 216/3 Cruscula, scinu. a 1100 Ags. Voc. Ibid. 307/27 Tibia, scyne, oððe scinban. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1060 Þu were ynume in one grune, Al hit abouhte þine schine [Cott. shine]. c 1300 E.E. Psalter cxlvi. 10 Ne in schines of man queming bes him tille. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 421 The pure fettres of his shynes grete [v.rr. schenys, schinnes]. c 1450 Lovelich Merlin 2102 Thanne lefte He vpe His staf Anon and overthwert the Schenys smot him. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. xiii. (Frog & Mouse) xxv, This litill mous, heir knit thus be the schin. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 494 She..had broken her shyn At the threshold comyng in. 1600 Rowlands Letting Humours Blood iv. 64 To trie it out at foot-ball by the shinnes. 1658–9 Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 10 A Spanish Don that burnt his shins by the fire. 1714 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. lxxxv. 140 In..a great crowd..people..disregard a little kick of the Shins. 1834 Marryat Peter Simple xxxi, O'Brien, who knew the tender part of a black, saluted Apollo with a kick on the shins. 1871 Meredith Harry Richmond xv, In mounting [the path] the knees and shins bore the brunt of it. |
b. The lower part of a leg (of beef), the meat of which is lean and streaked.
| 1736 Bailey Dict. Domest. s.v. Beef, Take a leg or shin of Beef, strip off the skin and fat. 1872 Daily News 5 Sept., An old English proverb says..‘Of all joints commend me to the shin of beef, which contains marrow for the master, meat for the mistress, gristle for the servants, and bone for the dog’. |
2. In
fig. phr.:
a. referring to striking a person over the shins (
cf. a rap over the knuckles) or wounding his shins.
| 1546 J. Heywood Prov. i. x. (1867) 20 Priuie nyps or casts ouertwart the shyns. 1589 ? Nashe Pasqvill & Marforivs B 4, To come ouer our shinnes with the same rebuke that hee gaue to Phillip. 1590 ― 1st Pt. Pasquil's Apol. C 2, A wipe ouer the shinnes of the Non Residents. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. i. ii. (1601) 47 It is able to breake the shinnes of any old mans patience in the world. 1651 Howell Venice 199 He is ready..to throw the Catt at her shinns, to pick a quarrell. [1795 Burke Regic. Peace iv. Wks. 1812 V. 26 The Author..ought not to have left us in the dark upon that subject, to break our shins over his hints and insinuations.] 1821 Lamb Elia i. All Fools' Day, Remove those logical forms..that no gentleman break the tender shins of his apprehension stumbling across them. 1884 St. James's Gaz. 25 Apr. 7/1 Rubbing down everybody's shins with a brickbat. |
† b. to cut off by the shins, to leave not a leg to stand on, undermine.
Obs.| 1592 Arden of Feversham D [ii. ii. 769], Cut him off by the shinnes, with a frowning looke of your crabed countenance. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. H 1, Post-hast letters came to him..to return as speedily as he could possible..wherby his fame was quit cut off by the shins. |
c. † to cross shins: see
cross v. 5.
to set out the shin (
Sc.), to walk proudly.
to graze the shins of, to come very near to.
| 1592 Nashe Strange Newes M 1, I will crosse shinnes with him though euerie sentence of his were a thousande tunnes of discourses. 1645 [see cross v. 5]. 1719 Ramsay 2nd Answ. to Hamilton ix, Set out the burnt side of your shin, For pride in poets is nae sin. 1786 Burns On Dining with Lord Daer iii, But wi' a Lord!—stand out my shin! A Lord—a Peer—an Earl's son! 1847 De Quincey Joan of Arc Wks. 1854 III. 227 The mob of spectators might raise a scruple whether our friend the jackdaw upon the throne, and the dauphin himself, were not grazing the shins of treason. |
d. to break shins (
slang): to borrow money.
| [1591 G. Fletcher Russe Commw. 45 Whereupon he praued or beat out of their shinnes 7000. rubbels for a mulct. 1606 Dekker Seven Sins i. (Arb.) 17 The Russians haue an excellent custome: they beate them on the shinnes, that haue mony, and will not pay their debts.] |
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Breaking Shins, borrowing of Money. 1864 Hotten's Slang Dict. 227. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 632 In financial slang, Americans use the verb to shin simply, where the English use to break shins, to denote a desperate effort to procure money in an emergency by running about to friends and acquaintances. |
3. The sharp slope of a hill.
Sc.| 1817 Edin. Mag. Oct. 84 Sometimes on the shin, and some⁓times in the hollow, of a hill. 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xv. v. IV. 76 They have climbed the eastern shin of the Harz Range, where the Harz is capable of wheel-carriages. |
4. Used, after G.
schiene, for an iron plate or band.
| 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. K 2, The Hack is not made straight but bending a little on either end from the Eye, upon that side the Haum is put in on, yet not too much into the Shins. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Shin,..a fish-plate. |
5. attrib. and
Comb., as
shin-boot,
shin-cover,
shin-guard,
shin-pad,
shin-pride,
shin-ridge;
† shin-barker, a little dog that barks at one's shins;
shin-cracker Austral. (see
quots.);
shin-leaf, the North American ericaceous plant
Pyrola elliptica (also
P. rotundifolia);
shin-oak, applied to dwarf varieties of oak which form thick low-growing underwood,
e.g. Quercus chinquapin;
shin-plaster, (
a)
Hist. (
orig. U.S.), a square piece of paper saturated with vinegar, etc., used as a plaster for sore legs; (
b) a piece of paper money,
esp. one of a low denomination, depreciated in value, or not sufficiently secured; (
c)
Canad., a twenty-five cent bill; also
attrib.;
shin-rapper, one who disables horses by striking the splint-bone;
shin-scraper, (
a) see
quot. 1869; (
b) a contemptuous name for a climber;
shin-splint, (
a)
dial. (see
quot. 1893–4); (
b)
pl. (const. as sing. and pl.), any of a number of painful conditions of the lower leg that may be caused by running on hard surfaces;
shin-tangle Canad. (see
quot. 1905);
shin wood, the Ground Hemlock,
Taxus canadensis (see
quot.).
| 1645 Milton Colast. 26 Infested, sometimes at his face, with dorrs and horsflies, sometimes beneath, with bauling whippets, and *shin-barkers. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Shin-boot,..a horse boot having a long leather shield to protect the shin of a horse. |
| 1845 Kitto's Cycl. Bibl. Lit. (1849) I. 228/1 They [sc. greaves] consisted of a pair of *shin-covers of brass. |
| 1928 Wentworth Mag. (Sydney) June 33 ‘*Shin-crakers’, that is, blows on the shin owing to the rock suddenly breaking off. 1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. 99 Shin⁓cracker, a subsoil of close-grained, brittle sandstone where the potch or silica runs. 1969 E. Waller There's Opal out There 20 Ailments common to the Lightning Ridge, such as shincracker shin. 1971 J. S. Gunn Opal Terminol. 42 Shin cracker. Also shincracker, common name for the fine-grained Coocoran claystone which on exposure at the surface becomes a hard, brittle, siliceous rock that usually has to be dug through to get to the opal ground. Its name is appropriate because, when worked with a sinking pick or jack hammer, pieces shatter or fly off to strike the digger's shins, hence the injury called ‘shin-cracker shin’. |
| 1884–5 Derbyshire Football Guide 97 (Advt.), *Shin-guards..2s. 6d. 1903 Daily Chron. 3 Feb. 3/4 Legs cased in shin-guards. |
| 1845–50 A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. App. 151 Pyrola..rotundifolia (*shin-leaf, pear-leaf wintergreen). 1856 A. Gray Man. Bot. 260. |
| 1844 J. Gregg Commerce of Prairies II. 200 Black-jacks..[are] intermixed with a very diminutive dwarf oak, called by the hunters ‘*shin-oak’. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 693/2 Quercus Chinquapin or prinoides, a dwarf variety,..forms dense miniature thickets..; the tree is called by the hunters of the plains the ‘shin-oak’. |
| 1895 Outing XXVII. 251/2 Neither *shin-pads nor canvas jackets were worn. |
| 1824 Microscope (Albany) 15 May (Thornton Amer. Gloss.), We advise our friends to exchange their ‘*shin plasters’ for ‘solid charms’ as soon as may be. 1843 Marryat M. Violet xxviii, I had taken the precaution in Louisiana of getting rid of my shin⁓plasters for hard specie. 1878 N. Amer. Rev. CXXVI. 170 The ‘more money’ that is cried for, silver or shinplaster, is not the needed thing. 1887 Grip (Toronto) 2 Apr. 10/2, I will give further particulars on receipt of a shin-plaister. 1929 H. Colebatch Story of Hundred Years xxxvii. 458 The ‘shin-plasters’ of Connor, Doherty, and Durack, and of many hotel and store keepers, form the regularly accepted currency. 1936 M. Mitchell Gone with Wind xvii. 308, I haven't a cent. Rhett, give me a few shin plasters. Here, Big Sam, buy some tobacco for yourself. 1962 H. Green Time to pass Over v. 77 Old Josh felt disposed to part with a few of his mouldy shinplasters. 1972 Tel. (Brisbane) 10 Nov. 40/1 Some years ago I was working in Boulia, where there wasn't a bank. Shin plasters were issued by Mr. J. P. Howard who owned the hotel at Boulia. |
| 1613 Sylvester Lachr. Lachr. B 4, Stript..Of guiddie-Gaudes,..Of Face-pride, Case⁓pride, *Shin-pride, Shoo-pride. |
| 1885 Daily Tel. 30 Sept. (Cassell), Every great stable in England had the fear of the poisoner, the *shin-rapper, and the nobbler constantly in view. |
| 1889 Ld. A. Campbell's Celtic Trad. 87 The sharp *shin-ridge of the greaves. |
| 1869 J. Greenwood Seven Curses Lond. vi. 87 The treadmill, *shin scraper (arising, it may be assumed, on account of the operator's liability, if he is not careful, to get his shins scraped by the ever-revolving wheel). 1895 Westm. Gaz. 11 Oct. 3/1 Although he may be described as a ‘shin-scraper’, he does not forget that he is first of all a mountaineer. |
| 1812 in J. Bell Rhymes of Northern Bards 35, I lost a' my *shin-splints among the great stanes. 1893–4 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words II. 632 Shin-splints, a kind of greave or leg armour worn on the shins by trimmers, etc., to protect the legs in working. 1930 Stedman Med. Dict. (ed. 11) 951/1 Shin splints, myositis and periostitis affecting chiefly the extensor muscles of the lower lateral aspect of the legs. 1938 A. Thorndike Athletic Injuries xxi. 180 Shin splints in track, cross country and other sports are a very definite injury—a tearing of the origin of the tibialis posticus muscle from the tibia in its lower third. 1977 J. F. Fixx Compl. Bk. Running v. 71 Shin splints—pains in the front of the leg that are common in beginning runners. |
| 1905 J. Outram In Heart Canad. Rockies 176 A dense undergrowth..is often designated by the expressive term ‘*shin-tangle’. 1973 P. Geddes Ottawa Allegation xiv. 181 Nothing else was about except for the birds, making for cover under the shintangle. |
| 1778 J. Carver Trav. N. Amer. 505 *Shin Wood. This extraordinary shrub..runs near the ground for six or eight feet, and then takes root again;..this proves very troublesome to the hasty traveller, by striking against his shins, and entangling his legs. |
▪ II. shin, v. (
ʃɪn)
[f. shin n.1] 1. intr. (
orig. Naut.) To climb by using the arms and legs without the help of steps, irons, etc.
| 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay iv, I myself saw him ‘shinning’ up by the topsail-tie. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxi, We had to..shin up and down single ropes caked with ice. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. ix, Nothing for it but the tree; so Tom laid his bones to it, shinning up as fast as he could. 1888 Stevenson Black Arrow i. iii, As he shinned vigorously down the trunk. |
b. trans. To climb up.
| 1891 in Century Dict. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 8 Apr. 8/1 [He] reached the roof by shinning a water-pipe. |
2. U.S. To ‘use one's legs’; to move quickly; to run
round.
| 1838 J. C. Neal Charcoal Sketches 106 Shin it, good man..shin it as well as you know how! 1840 G. T. Strong Diary 8 May (1952) 138 One banner in particular—representing Matty shinning away from the White House. 1845 N.Y. Com. Adv. 13 Dec. (Bartlett 1860), The Senator was shinning around, to get gold for the rascally bank-rags which he was obliged to take. 1864 Atkinson Stanton Grange 267 And then didn't I shin it along the bridge, pretty speedily! 1865 Sala Diary in Amer. II. 414, I guess you'll walk down town and show me the stores. I'm tired of shinning around alone. 1887 Conan Doyle Study in Scarlet ii. iii, I guess we had best shin out of Utah. |
3. To kick (a person) on the shins. Also, to shoot in the shins.
| 1819 E. Evans Pedestrious Tour 214 Soldiers are apt to fire too high. He was often heard to say to his troops in battle: ‘Shin them, my brave boys!’ a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. iii. House-warming, There's a pirouette!..A ring!—give him room or he'll ‘shin’ you—stand clear! 1846 Yale Banger 10 Nov. (Hall College Words), We have been shinned, smoked, ducked. 1864 [Hemyng] Eton School Days xiii, He could not go out of his tutor's..without some one..‘shinning’ him if he passed near enough. |
4. U.S. To borrow money.
Cf. break shins,
s.v. shin n. 2 d.
| 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., Shin, to borrow money. (American cant term.) 1872 [see shin n.1 2 d]. |
▪ III. shin obs. Sc. pl. of
shoe.