shanks' mare
One's own feet used for walkingOne's own feet used for walking.
Meaning
1 senses(US, countable, idiomatic, uncountable)One's own feet used for walking.
Schusters Rappen
на свои́х двои́хna svoíx dvoíx, на Пешка́русеna Peškáruse
your own legs
Translations
3 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Believed to be Scottish in origin and derives from shanks' nag (shanks-naig 1774), referriBelieved 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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: shanks' maresSynonyms
3 synonyms- your own legs:shank's mareshank's ponyshanks' pony
Word family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.