Home / Dictionary / Shin

Shin Very Common

Shin has 9 different meanings across 3 categories:

Noun · Verb · Proper Noun

Definitions
Noun
1

the front part of the human leg between the knee and the ankle

"The runner fell hard on his shin after tripping over a rock."

2

a cut of meat from the lower part of the leg

"The butcher sliced off a few shins to make stew for the family dinner."

3

the 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet

"The scribe carefully copied the shin character, which is the twenty-second letter of the Hebrew alphabet."

4

the inner and thicker of the two bones of the human leg between the knee and ankle

"The soccer player felt a sharp pain in his shin after kicking the ball hard against the wall."

5

The front part of the leg below the knee; the front edge of the shin bone: Shinbone on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

"The ancient scribe carefully carved the shin into the stone tablet to record the sacred text."

6

The twenty-first letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others): Shin (letter) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

In plain English: A shin is the front part of your lower leg between your knee and ankle that often gets hit when you fall or play sports.

"He carefully taped his shin to protect it from getting bruised during soccer practice."

Verb
1

climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling

"The child had to shin up the slippery oak tree using nothing but his hands and knees."

2

To climb a mast, tree, rope, or the like, by embracing it alternately with the arms and legs, without help of steps, spurs, or the like.

"The climber shinned up the smooth oak tree until he reached the highest branch."

In plain English: To shin is to climb up something by pulling yourself along with your hands and feet, often without using ropes or ladders.

"The heavy bag shined against my leg during practice, leaving a painful bruise."

Proper Noun
1

A river in Scotland, in the Highlands

"The boat drifted silently along the banks of the Shin as we entered the Scottish Highlands."

Example Sentences
"He carefully taped his shin to protect it from getting bruised during soccer practice." noun
"The heavy bag shined against my leg during practice, leaving a painful bruise." verb
"She shined her shoes before leaving for work." verb
"He shined his socks to make them look bright and new." verb
"The teacher told the students to shine their pencils with an eraser." verb
See Also
shinless shinguard skink shinbone kneeling chair arabic leg aramaic
Related Terms
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
body part cut letter leg bone climb

Origin

The word "shin" comes from the Old English word for a leg bone and traveled into modern English without changing its original meaning. Although it sounds similar to "skin," these two words are not related in origin.

Rhyming Words
hin chin rhin whin thin phin achin oshin gethin shahin mushin urchin within arshin fishin cochin nuthin nothin wishin sachin
Compare
Shin vs