Meaning
One’s legs and feet, used for walking; travel by foot. Also “shanks’ nag.” A reference to the shank— the lower leg between the knee and the ankle—and the use of ponies or horses for travel.
Examples
My bicycle fell apart three miles away from home, so I had to use shank’s nag to go the rest of the way.
Unfortunately, with the sedentary lifestyle many lead today, shank’s nag has largely become an obsolete mode of travel.
Origin
Synonyms
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What does the idiom ‘shank’s nag’ mean?
The idiom ‘shank’s nag’ means “to deal with a difficult situation without being harmed or damaged”
How do you use ‘shank’s nag’ in a sentence?
Example usage of idiom ‘shank’s nag’: Newspapers have weathered the storm of online information by providing news online themselves.