Shawshank

present singular third person Shawshanks · participle present Shawshanking · participle past Shawshanked · past Shawshanked

1. To escape, especially by tunneling out or without warning.

   Kid up and disappears, Shawshanks like a fart in the wind.

   2012, Phil Brody, The Holden Age of Hollywood

   4 more examples

   After endless Shawshanking through the ducts, I came to a grate that offered my first break from the horror show.

   2009, Kilt Kilpatrick, “Last Times at Ridgemont High”, in Lori Perkins, editor, Hungry for Your Love: An Anthology of Zombie Romance, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 314

   It was like everything in him had been set free. Like the secret part of himself—the one he kept hidden and didn't let out so he could remain safe and intact—had Shawshanked itself and wasn't going to let it be captured again.

   2013, Maggie Robinson, Elyssa Patrick, Holiday for Two

   'So your mind's made up?' Elaine said. 'You're Shawshanking out on us?'

   2017, Alex Wheatle, Straight Outta Crongton, London: Atom Books, →ISBN, page 277

   And nothing to scrape with, so we're not Shawshanking our way out.

   2021, Mary Hughes, Night's Bliss

2. To punish (someone) for something that they did not do.

   Sorry you got Shawshanked, but it doesn't change anything.

   2015, Buffy: Season Nine Library Edition Volume 3, page 165

   3 more examples

   Jim hadn't, but he did agree to give us more time before he Shawshanked me.

   1997, Randi Reisfeld, Too Hottie to Handle, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 131

   I could have been honest, said it was all a mistake and that I'd been shawshanked, but that hadn't won me any favors so far.

   2017, M.C. Cerny, The Warden

   It's like going to prison with an innocent conscience: he Shawshanked me real hard; and it was up to me to dig my way out to freedom.

   2022, Kathleen Ann Tia, The Naked Green Eyes, page 3

3. To accomplish something by doing a little bit at a time over a long period of time.

   Easy, I shawshaked you.

   2022, Chris Tuff, Save Your Asks

   1 more example

   I had just given notice at work that I was taking a leave and I wanted to start "Shawshanking" things home

   2020·, Gerry Ugalde, Dancing with Disease

4. To rape (a man, by a man) as an act of dominance and bullying.

   This isn't an act of love; he's basically getting Shawshanked by a long-necked bully.

   2022, Mamadou Ndiaye, 100 Animals That Can F*cking End You, page 107

plural Shawshanks

1. A literal or figurative prison.

   We all have our Shawshanks. Some of us have broken free.

   2012, Vance Brown, No Matter the Cost, page 174

   3 more examples

   […] the various walls men elect to live behind inside their own self-constructed Shawshanks, laboring under the debilitating belief that they have no other choice than to mirror the quiet desperation of their own experience (or their father's) by living in isolation.

   2016, Maura Grady, Tony Magistrale, The Shawshank Experience, page 130

   Therefore, cat strollers are designed as rolling mini Shawshanks, keeping your kitty locked in, while you get the benefits of a walk.

   2017, Jeff Lazarus, Catakism

   We are Harry Potter and William Wallace, the Na’vi and Han Solo. We’re escaping from Shawshank and blowing up the Death Star. We are fighting with the Harkonnens and challenging Thanos. Ukraine is hosting one of the great epics of this century.

   2023 February 16, Pavlo Kazarin, “A year ago I volunteered as a soldier in the Ukrainian army”, in NATO Review, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2025