Shin \Shin\, n. [OE. shine, schine, AS. scina; akin to D. scheen, OHG. scina, G. schiene, schienbein, Dan. skinnebeen, Sw. skenben. Cf. {Chine}.] 1. The front part of the leg below the knee; the front edge of the shin bone; the lower part of the leg; the shank. ``On his shin.'' --Chaucer.
2. (Railbroad) A fish plate for rails. --Knight.
{Shin bone} (Anat.), the tibia.
{Shin leaf} (Bot.), a perennial ericaceous herb ({Pyrola elliptica}) with a cluster of radical leaves and a raceme of greenish white flowers.
Shin \Shin\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Shinned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Shinning}.] 1. To climb a mast, tree, rope, or the like, by embracing it alternately with the arms and legs, without help of steps, spurs, or the like; -- used with up; as, to shin up a mast. [Slang]
2. To run about borrowing money hastily and temporarily, as for the payment of one's notes at the bank. [Slang, U.S.] --Bartlett.
Shin \Shin\, v. t. To climb (a pole, etc.) by shinning up. [Slang]
A thunderstorm has just rolled in and the water in front of her house is shin deep.
Zoanne Smith, an instructor who taught aerobics for three years on a Caribbean cruise ship, recommends the low-impact variety to avoid stress fractures, shin splints, tendonitis and other ailments.
There was barely a shin in sight at the Marais art gallery openings last Saturday that marked the start of the autumn arts season.
"I was so excited when I got here and saw the waves that I slipped down on the pavement," she said, rolling up her wetsuit to display a small gash on her shin. "This is what we wait all year for." "This definitely rates a `10'.
It is true that the 40-foot-long truck his company builds has been driven right over a man's outstretched legs, without snapping a single shin or thighbone.