shanty

Everyday

1. A small, roughly built hut or shack made from scrap materials. tree →
2. A sea shanty: a song sailors sang together while working, to keep time when pulling ropes. tree →
3. «Shanty town»: an area of very poor homes made of scrap, at the edge of a city. tree →

In the lessons

In music and history lessons, sea shanties («Drunken Sailor», «Wellerman») were sung on sailing ships while turning the capstan or hauling ropes. In geography lessons on cities and poverty, shanty towns grow where people cannot afford proper housing.

Examples

• The sailors sang a shanty as they hauled the ropes. tree →
• We sang «Drunken Sailor» in music class. tree →
• The family lived in a shanty made of tin sheets. tree →
• Shanty towns grow at the edges of many big cities. tree →
• The old fisherman knew every sea shanty. tree →
• The shanty had no running water. tree →

Note

Plural: shanties (y → ies). «Chanty» or «chantey» is an older spelling of the song sense. Both meanings are different words with the same spelling.