Shank

Shank is the lower part of the leg, also called the "shin".

Shank may also refer to:

Component parts

People

Shank (footwear)

In a boot or shoe, the shank is a part of the supportive structure between the insole and outsole. The presence of a shank is crucial to the functionality of mountaineering boots as they diminish the load incurred by the wearer’s feet and calves over the course of an ascent. Traditionally constructed of steel, contemporary shanks are more commonly made up of less heat conductive but equally rigid options such as fiberglass and Kevlar. The rigid nature of these materials contributes a protective element to the footwear into which they are integrated, helping shield the wearer’s feet from puncture wounds and stone bruises.

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Crook (music)

A crook, also sometimes called a shank, is an exchangeable segment of tubing in a natural horn (or other brass instrument, such as a natural trumpet) which is used to change the length of the pipe, altering the fundamental pitch and harmonic series which the instrument can sound, and thus the key in which it plays.

Master crook and coupler system

Early horns had unalterable lengths and permanently attached mouthpieces. This presented problems in concert situations. A different horn was required for different keys, and the instrument could not be tuned. Around 1700 the Leichnamschneider brothers in Vienna developed a horn with a removable mouthpiece which could be connected to a short piece of tubing, called a master crook. Additional pieces, couplers, of different length were inserted between the master crook and the body of the horn to change the horn's length, and thus the pitch. Fine tuning was done with even shorter segments called tuning bits. This simple and relatively inexpensive solution remained in use even into the 19th century. Charles Tully's Tutor for the French Horn, published in London, recommended this system for beginners as late as 1840.