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shanty

shanty

22 6.8
A small rough shelter made from old boards and metal
  • noun
  • /ˈʃæn.ti/
translation icon : choza
  • Natives in the floating shanty town live on rafts in the river.
  • shanty towns
  • shanty settlement
  • shanty areas

And what we found is in rural Indian villages, in African shanty towns and Arctic Hamlets.

Examples

  • Quickly, they set up their shanty, and the old man went off to gather firewood.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Near evening the next day, they set up the shanty on a mudflat at the edge of the sea.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The boy went to the rear of the shanty to add wood to the fire.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The girls were playing outside a shanty about twenty feet from the boy.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • As the boy entered the shanty, the snow began to fall.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Most of these people are in rural areas and shanty towns in developing countries.

    Academic text (2001)
  • Soon there was another family in the shanty, sullen people from the coast, not given to talk.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • All around him were fires, shanties, and the smells of cooking food.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Outside the shanty, the boy sat huddled in a quilt, guarding the fire and the cart.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The family lived in a shanty made of wooden pallets and tin sheets.

Synonyms

hut
vsshanty
217 1.0

A small simple building where people live or stay

is crudely built from discarded materials instead of simple basic ones
shack
vsshanty
131 1.8

A small rough shelter made from wood and metal scraps

uses discarded materials specifically rather than merely inexpensive ones
hovel
vsshanty
14 7.1

A small simple house that is dirty and not good to live in

is crudely built for use rather than described as unfit or filthy
hutch
vsshanty
  • UK
6.8

A small, simple shelter where people live, often temporary

is usually longer term and not merely temporary
old shanty
vsshanty
7.2

A small old run-down house where poor people live

is crudely built and focuses on discarded materials rather than age

Antonyms

327 3.4

A very large, impressive house often with many rooms and gardens

241 1.0

A large, beautiful house where a king or queen lives

Compounds

A small old run-down house where poor people live

How Permanent

mansion
327 3.4
house
1.0
cottage
171 1.0
hut
217 1.0
shanty
22 6.8
tent
514 1.0

Surface Forms

shanty singular
shanties plural

Etymology

Shanty for a small, rough shelter likely comes from the French word chantier meaning 'work yard' or 'building site', a place with temporary, simple buildings. That's why a shanty is used for a quick, cheaply made home or shelter.