rod vs shank

rod

noun
  • A straight, round stick, shaft, bar, cane, or staff. 

  • A rod cell: a rod-shaped cell in the eye that is sensitive to light. 

  • A hot rod, an automobile or other passenger motor vehicle modified to run faster and often with exterior cosmetic alterations, especially one based originally on a pre-1940s model or (currently) denoting any older vehicle thus modified. 

  • A coupling rod or connecting rod, which links the driving wheels of a steam locomotive, and some diesel shunters and early electric locomotives. 

  • A long slender usually tapering pole used for angling; fishing rod. 

  • A straight bar that unites moving parts of a machine, for holding parts together as a connecting rod or for transferring power as a driveshaft. 

  • Any of a number of long, slender microorganisms. 

  • An implement held vertically and viewed through an optical surveying instrument such as a transit, used to measure distance in land surveying and construction layout; an engineer's rod, surveyor's rod, surveying rod, leveling rod, ranging rod. The modern (US) engineer's or surveyor's rod commonly is eight or ten feet long and often designed to extend higher. In former times a surveyor's rod often was a single wooden pole or composed of multiple sectioned and socketed pieces, and besides serving as a sighting target was used to measure distance on the ground horizontally, hence for convenience was of one rod or pole in length, that is, 5+¹⁄₂ yards. 

  • The penis. 

  • A stirring rod: a glass rod, typically about 6 inches to 1 foot long and ¹⁄₈ to ¹⁄₄ inch in diameter that can be used to stir liquids in flasks or beakers. 

  • A stick used to measure distance, by using its established length or task-specific temporary marks along its length, or by dint of specific graduated marks. 

  • An implement resembling and/or supplanting a rod (particularly a cane) that is used for corporal punishment, and metonymically called the rod, regardless of its actual shape and composition. 

  • A longitudinal pole used for forming part of a framework such as an awning or tent. 

  • A Cuisenaire rod. 

  • A stick, pole, or bundle of switches or twigs (such as a birch), used for personal defense or to administer corporal punishment by whipping. 

  • A pistol; a gun. 

  • A rod-shaped object that appears in photographs or videos traveling at high speed, not seen by the person recording the event, often associated with extraterrestrial entities. 

verb
  • To penetrate sexually. 

  • To reinforce concrete with metal rods. 

  • To hot rod. 

  • To furnish with rods, especially lightning rods. 

shank

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

  • 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. 

  • Meat from that part of an animal. 

  • 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. 

  • 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 rod and shank occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )