Meanings
shin1
present singular third person shins · participle present shinning · participle past shinned · past shinned
- To climb up or lower oneself down a mast, tree, rope, or the like, by embracing it alternately with the arms and legs, without help of steps, spurs, or the like.
to shin up a mast
1 more example
"The minute the door is shut he shins down a water-pipe, hops on his motor-cycle, and is off at full speed."
1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 33Synonyms: shinny
- To strike with the shin.
The warning signs had been there as Peter Cech had already had to palm away a stinging shot from Ronald Zubar but immediately afterwards the Blues goalkeeper could only watch in horror as defender Boswinga shinned the ball into his own net from Hunt's corner.
2011 January 5, Mark Ashenden, “Wolverhampton 1 - 0 Chelsea”, in BBC
shin2
plural shins · alternative sheen
- The twenty-first letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others): Shin (letter) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Shin3
Shin4
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe front part of the leg below the knee; the front edge of the shin bone: Shinbone on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
verbTo climb up or lower oneself down a mast, tree, rope, or the like, by embracing it alternately with the arms and legs, without help of steps, spurs, or the like.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe inner and thicker of the two bones of the human leg between the knee and ankle
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
shin · noun, verb
- Proto-Germanic*skinō
- Proto-West Germanic*skinu
- Old Englishscinu
- Middle Englishschyne
- Englishshin
From Middle English schyne, from Old English scinu, from Proto-West Germanic *skinu, from Proto-Germanic *skinō. Cognate with West Frisian skine, Dutch scheen, German Schiene. Not related to skin.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Shin · proper noun
- Scottish Gaelicabhainn
- EnglishShin
From Scottish Gaelic abhainn Sin.
More words from Scottish Gaelic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans skeen, maermerrie
- skeenfront part of the leg below the knee
- maermerriefront part of the leg below the knee
Ancient Greek κνήμη
- κνήμη (knḗmē)front part of the leg below the knee
Arabic قَصَبَة, شِين
- قَصَبَة (qaṣaba)front part of the leg below the knee
- شِين (šīn)Semitic letter
Bulgarian пищя́л, изкатервам се
- пищя́л (pištjál)front part of the leg below the knee
- изкатервам се (izkatervam se)(UK) to climb a mast, tree, rope
Catalan canyella, canella
- canyellafront part of the leg below the knee
- canellafront part of the leg below the knee
- secfront part of the leg below the knee
- camallófront part of the leg below the knee
- espinellafront part of the leg below the knee
- xinSemitic letter
Chinese Mandarin 脛 /胫, 小腿
- 脛 /胫 (jìng)front part of the leg below the knee
- 小腿 (xiǎotuǐ)front part of the leg below the knee
Czech holeň
- holeňfront part of the leg below the knee
Danish skinneben
- skinnebenfront part of the leg below the knee
Dutch scheen
- scheenfront part of the leg below the knee
Esperanto kruro
- krurofront part of the leg below the knee
Finnish sääri, kivuta
- säärifront part of the leg below the knee
- kivuta(UK) to climb a mast, tree, rope
- kavuta(UK) to climb a mast, tree, rope
- kiivetä(UK) to climb a mast, tree, rope
- šinSemitic letter
French tibia, os long
- tibiafront part of the leg below the knee
- os longfront part of the leg below the knee
- chineSemitic letter
- shinSemitic letter
German Schienbein, Tibia
- Schienbeinfront part of the leg below the knee
- Tibiafront part of the leg below the knee
- SchinSemitic letter
Greek κνήμη
- κνήμη (kními)front part of the leg below the knee
Hebrew שוק, שִׁין
- שוק (shok)front part of the leg below the knee
- שִׁין (shin)Semitic letter
Hungarian sípcsont, lábszár
- sípcsontfront part of the leg below the knee
- lábszárfront part of the leg below the knee
Icelandic sköflungur
- sköflungurfront part of the leg below the knee
Indonesian betis depan, tulang kering
- betis depanfront part of the leg below the knee
- tulang keringfront part of the leg below the knee
Irish lorga
- lorgafront part of the leg below the knee
Italian stinco, tibia
- stincofront part of the leg below the knee
- tibiafront part of the leg below the knee
Japanese 脛, 臑
- 脛 (sune)front part of the leg below the knee
- 臑 (sune)front part of the leg below the knee
Korean 정강이
- 정강이 (jeonggang'i)front part of the leg below the knee
Lithuanian blauzda
- blauzdafront part of the leg below the knee
Malay tulang kering
- tulang keringfront part of the leg below the knee
Māori tāhau, tātāhau
- tāhaufront part of the leg below the knee
- tātāhaufront part of the leg below the knee
- kauangāwaifront part of the leg below the knee
Norwegian Bokmål skinneben, skinnebein
- skinnebenfront part of the leg below the knee
- skinnebeinfront part of the leg below the knee
- tibiafront part of the leg below the knee
Persian ساق
- ساق (sâġ)front part of the leg below the knee
Polish goleń
- goleńfront part of the leg below the knee
Portuguese canela
- canelafront part of the leg below the knee
Romanian fluierul piciorului
- fluierul picioruluifront part of the leg below the knee
Russian го́лень, кара́бкаться
- го́лень (gólenʹ)front part of the leg below the knee
- кара́бкаться (karábkatʹsja)(UK) to climb a mast, tree, rope
- лазать (lazatʹ)(UK) to climb a mast, tree, rope
- шин (šin)Semitic letter
Scottish Gaelic lurgann
- lurgannfront part of the leg below the knee
Slovak holeň
- holeňfront part of the leg below the knee
Spanish canilla, espinilla
- canillafront part of the leg below the knee
- espinillafront part of the leg below the knee
- tibiafront part of the leg below the knee
Swedish skenben
- skenbenfront part of the leg below the knee
Tagalog lulod
- lulodfront part of the leg below the knee
Thai แข้ง
- แข้ง (kɛ̂ng)front part of the leg below the knee
Turkish incik, kaval kemiği
- incikfront part of the leg below the knee
- kaval kemiğifront part of the leg below the knee
- şinSemitic letter
Ukrainian гомі́лка, голі́нка
- гомі́лка (homílka)front part of the leg below the knee
- голі́нка (holínka)front part of the leg below the knee
Vietnamese ống quyển, ống khuyển
- ống quyểnfront part of the leg below the knee
- ống khuyểnfront part of the leg below the knee
- ống đồngfront part of the leg below the knee
Welsh crimog
- crimogfront part of the leg below the knee
Yiddish שין
- שין (shin)Semitic letter
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with shin
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
shin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shin
“shin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shin. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shin,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shin.
Source: shin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.