shin
1 Americannoun
-
the front part of the leg from the knee to the ankle.
-
the lower part of the foreleg in cattle.
-
the shinbone or tibia, especially its sharp edge or front portion.
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Chiefly British. a cut of beef similar to the U.S. shank, usually cut into small pieces for stewing.
verb (used with or without object)
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shins,
present (3rd person singular)
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shinned,
past participle, past
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shinning
present participle
noun
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the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
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the consonant sound represented by this letter.
noun
noun
noun
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the front part of the lower leg
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the front edge of the tibia
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a cut of beef, the lower foreleg
verb
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to climb (a pole, tree, etc) by gripping with the hands or arms and the legs and hauling oneself up
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(tr) to kick (a person) in the shins
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shinsimple
-
shinssimple
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have shinnedperfect
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has shinnedperfect
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am shinningprogressive
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are shinningprogressive
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is shinningprogressive
-
have been shinningperfect progressive
-
has been shinningperfect progressive
Past
-
shinnedsimple
-
had shinnedperfect
-
was shinningprogressive
-
were shinningprogressive
-
had been shinningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shin1
before 1000; Middle English shine, Old English scinu; cognate with Dutch scheen, German Schien ( bein )
Origin of shin2
1895–1900; < Hebrew shīn, akin to shēn tooth
Origin of shīn3
From Arabic
Origin of Shin4
1895–1900; < Japanese: literally, faith < Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese zhēn truth
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Milwaukee Brewers: Huntington Beach Marina High product Jake Bauers has suffered from shin splints almost all season, and the pain has kept him from playing the outfield lately.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
One had a festering cut on his shin that he said he got from a fall on the rocks near the beach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The Bayer Leverkusen defender caught Mexico's Jesus Gallardo high on the shin following a sliding challenge in the 54th minute.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
You have soccer cranks who didn’t care about the sport 24 hours ago ready to march in the streets wearing shin guards and a full red-striped Waldo kit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
But when she began examining my legs and saw the scars on my left shin, she took my headphones off again and asked, “How did you get these scars?”
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
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Also in the pool, Japanese swimmer Shin Ohashi, himself only 17, smashed the men's 200m breaststroke world record to delight the home crowd.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
“I feel like sometimes I’m stuck in a Gen X body, because I invest pretty similarly to a lot of my clients,” Shin said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
Shin balances her safe-haven portfolio with extra cash flow from her side job as a fitness instructor.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
In the years when the Hilltop Youth took shape, Dvir Kariv served as an officer for a special unit of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, assigned to prevent Jewish terrorism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
In October 2004, Shin and Park began spending fourteen hours a day together in the garment factory.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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Parton, never dropping her megawatt smile, replied, “If you had’ve, it would have been something very natural. But I would have probably kicked your shins or something.”
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
The stickler, or referee, has to make sure that shins are kicked before a fall can count.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
In slalom, racers typically knock down gates with their arms or shins, which are protected by plastic shin guards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2026
Gilgeous-Alexander was sidelined by a sprained ankle while Holmgren was nursing sore shins, both joining Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams on OKC's injured list.
From Barron's ● Jan. 10, 2026
We fell down three times, and I bashed my shins into the river rocks at the shallow edge.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
![]()
And the 37-year-old settled the game when he shinned Lamine Yamal's header across goal and past his own keeper.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2023
Clucas' effort took a deflection off the boot of Moussa Sissoko and flew into the corner, while Tymon shinned a first-time cross over Elliot's head.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2021
“See, it’s not difficult,” Mr. Violini, a restoration specialist at the Vatican Museums, said as he slowly shinned up the frescoed stairwell leading up to a once-private papal chapel in Rome.
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2019
Out went Geoff Cameron, whose shinned clearance had gifted Nani the opening goal against Portugal, and whose drop in concentration was a contributing factor, but certainly not the sole cause, in the second.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 27, 2014
I twisted them off and shinned back down.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
![]()
As it was, it took two set-pieces break down the visitors, with Hofmann shinning a volley through a crowded penalty area after the initial ball in was not cleared.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2024
"All love on my end shawty, Keep shinning!"
From Fox News ● Feb. 22, 2021
I experienced Ustvolskaya’s magnificent chords and resonances as heat and light, while that shinning orb overhead became a giant gong.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2018
But there is one difference, because on a large shelf rests a collection of shinning trophy cups, plaques and ribbons attesting to Burlington’s Ian Steward’s racetrack driving skills.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 23, 2017
The action of these bats when climbing a vertical branch, is similar to a man's in shinning up a pole.
From In the Andamans and Nicobars The Narrative of a Cruise in the Schooner "Terrapin" by C. Boden Kloss
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.