Meanings
plural shanks' mares · alternative shanks's mare · alternative shank's mare · alternative shanks mare
- UScountableidiomaticuncountableOne's own feet used for walking.
Once they take to Shanks' mare, they are all equal.
1942. Transit Journal, McGraw Hill, page 173http://books.google.com/books?id=7GcTAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Shanks'+mare%22&dq=%22Shanks'+mare%22&lr=&ei=4plgR9OWE5KetAOy0sGDBw&pgis=13 more examples
A public exhibition of the velocipede [a predecessor of the bicycle] ... will never come into general use in competition with Shank's mare.
1869. The Dubuque Daily Herald, Dubuque, Iowa, May 1869“Well! Well! Here's Aunt Cannie. Waiting for your car?” “No suh, Mr. Henry. Shank's mare is plenty good fer me. I been ridin' dis ol' mare for more'n a hund'ed years.”
1923, Harris Dickson, “The Proof”, in The Red Book Magazine, volume 41, number 6The last thing we'd want to be seen doing...is using shanks mare, even though the day is holding up well.
2003. John O'Flaherty, Rafferty, p. 77http://books.google.com/books?id=ZD0F4lbP9EIC&pg=PA77&dq=%22shanks%27+mare%22&lr=&ei=aJpgR-zhHo2msgOt3cHzBg&sig=J03Vw4E0LOtgDggPIwMke5IlAyY
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Believed to be Scottish in origin and derives from shanks' nag (shanks-naig 1774), referring to the use of shank to refer to the part of the human leg between the knee and ankle. One theory cites "shank's mare" derived from a horse-drawn lawn mower, manufactured by Shanks & Company Ltd. (founded 1853) which required that the human operator walk behind the device to guide the horse; however, references to the phrase in Scottish literature pre-date the existence of the Shanks lawn mower.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 十一路
- 十一路walking
German Schusters Rappen
- Schusters Rappenwalking
Icelandic fara á tveimur jafnfljótum, ganga
- fara á tveimur jafnfljótumwalking
- gangawalking
Irish é a chrágáil, dul ann de shiúl cos
- é a chrágáilwalking
- dul ann de shiúl coswalking
Polish piechota
- piechotawalking
Russian на свои́х двои́х, на Пешка́русе
- на свои́х двои́х (na svoíx dvoíx)walking
- на Пешка́русе (na Peškáruse)walking
Swedish apostlahästar
- apostlahästarwalking
Cite this entry
shanks' mare. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shanks'%20mare
“shanks' mare.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shanks'%20mare. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shanks' mare,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shanks'%20mare.
Source: shanks' mare on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.