hank

noun

ˈhaŋk 

1

: coil, loop

specifically : a coiled or looped bundle (as of yarn) usually containing a definite yardage

2

: any of a series of rings or clips by which a jib or staysail is attached to a stay

Examples of hank in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There was no one else on the strand, the surf a sickly yellow foam bubbling between the matted black hanks of seaweed heaped on the beach. —Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 21 Apr. 2022

In one of its spreads, a burst of light on muddy asphalt abuts a jumble of walls and fences, rain pounding a limousine, and a spatter of paint with a hank of rope. —Leo Rubinfien, The New York Review of Books, 11 Feb. 2021

If a breeze is blowing, the air fills with the clamoring of jib hanks. —Joe Kloc, Harper's magazine, 10 June 2019

The Shaker-style peg rack could hold hanks of yarn. —Christine Pittel, House Beautiful, 1 Aug. 2012

Open the other days of the week, the Shaker Store sells hanks of yarn, Shaker seeds, herbal teas, and Shaker brooms. —Patricia Harris and David Lyon, BostonGlobe.com, 21 June 2018

One photograph from the era shows a woman standing in a village as two men forcibly restrain her wrists; a third man grabs a hank of her blonde hair, his scissors poised to hack it away. —Ann Mah, Time, 6 June 2018

The next morning, the police and Victoria’s parents found articles of the girl’s clothing and a bloody hank of hair on a road near a sand pit in Mahwah. —David Stout, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2017

By the time he’s done, the legendary Viennese doktor has been reduced to not much more than a rag, a bone, and a hank of hair. —Laura Miller, Slate Magazine, 5 Sep. 2017

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse hǫnk hank; akin to Old English hangian to hang

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

hank

noun

ˈhaŋk 

: coil entry 2 sense 1a, skein

especially : a coil of yarn