butt vs shank

butt

noun
  • The shoulder of an animal, especially the portion above the picnic, as a cut of meat. 

  • The joint where two planks in a strake meet. 

  • A push, thrust, or sudden blow, given by the head; a head butt. 

  • The buttocks (used as a minced oath in idiomatic expressions; less objectionable than arse/ass). 

  • The thickest and stoutest part of tanned oxhides, used for soles of boots, harness, trunks. 

  • The whole buttocks and pelvic region that includes one's private parts. 

  • The blunt back part of an axehead or large blade. Also called the poll. 

  • A piece of land left unplowed at the end of a field. 

  • A person at whom ridicule, jest, or contempt is directed. 

  • An English measure of capacity for liquids, containing 126 wine gallons which is one-half tun; equivalent to the pipe. 

  • Any of various flatfish such as sole, plaice or turbot 

  • A crust end-piece of a loaf of bread. 

  • The plastic or rubber cap used to cover the open end of a lacrosse stick's shaft in order to reduce injury. 

  • A kind of hinge used in hanging doors, etc., so named because it is attached to the inside edge of the door and butts against the casing, instead of on its face, like the strap hinge; also called butt hinge. 

  • The end of a connecting rod or other like piece, to which the boxing is attached by the strap, cotter, and gib. 

  • A mark to be shot at; a target. 

  • A joint where the ends of two objects come squarely together without scarfing or chamfering. 

  • The portion of a half-coupling fastened to the end of a hose. 

  • The hut or shelter of the person who attends to the targets in rifle practice. 

  • A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end. 

  • The end of a firearm opposite to that from which a bullet is fired. 

  • A thrust in fencing. 

  • Body; self. 

  • A used cigarette. 

  • A wooden cask for storing wine, usually containing 126 gallons. 

verb
  • To join at the butt, end, or outward extremity; to terminate; to be bounded; to abut. 

  • To strike bluntly, particularly with the head. 

  • To strike bluntly with the head. 

shank

noun
  • Meat from that part of an animal. 

  • The center part of a fishhook between the eye and the hook, the 'hook' being the curved part that bends toward the point. 

  • A poorly played golf shot in which the ball is struck by the part of the club head that connects to the shaft. 

  • A redshank or greenshank, various species of Old World wading birds in the genus Tringa having distinctly colored legs. 

  • A large ladle for molten metal, fitted with long bars for handling it. 

  • The main part or beginning of a period of time. 

  • The handle of a pair of shears, connecting the ride to the neck. 

  • An improvised stabbing weapon. 

  • The space between two channels of the Doric triglyph. 

  • The part of the sole beneath the instep connecting the broader front part with the heel. 

  • The end or remainder, particularly of a period of time. 

  • A loop forming an eye to a button. 

  • The metal part on a curb bit that falls below the mouthpiece, which length controls the severity of the leverage action of the bit, and to which the reins of the bridle are attached. 

  • A protruding part of an object, by which it is or can be attached. 

  • A straight, narrow part of an object, such as a key or an anchor; shaft; stem. 

  • The part of the leg between the knee and the ankle. 

  • Flat-nosed pliers, used by opticians for nipping off the edges of pieces of glass to make them round. 

verb
  • To hit or kick the ball in an unintended direction. 

  • To misstrike the ball with the part of the club head that connects to the shaft. 

  • To fall off, as a leaf, flower, or capsule, on account of disease affecting the supporting footstalk; usually followed by off. 

  • To remove another's trousers, especially in jest; to depants. 

  • To provide (a button) with a shank (loop forming an eye). 

  • To apply the shank to a shoe, during the process of manufacturing it. 

  • To stab, especially with an improvised blade. 

adj
  • Bad. 

How often have the words butt and shank occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )