His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For
his shrunk shank. --Shak.
2. Hence, that part of an instrument, tool, or other thing,
which connects the acting part with a handle or other
part, by which it is held or moved. Specifically:
(a) That part of a key which is between the bow and the
part which enters the wards of the lock.
(b) The middle part of an anchor, or that part which is
between the ring and the arms. See Illustr. of
{Anchor}.
(c) That part of a hoe, rake, knife, or the like, by which
it is secured to a handle.
(d) A loop forming an eye to a button.
3. (Arch.) The space between two channels of the Doric
triglyph. --Gwilt.
4. (Founding) A large ladle for molten metal, fitted with
long bars for handling it.
5. (Print.) The body of a type.
6. (Shoemaking) The part of the sole beneath the instep
connecting the broader front part with the heel.
7. (Zo["o]l.) A wading bird with long legs; as, the
green-legged shank, or knot; the yellow shank, or tattler;
-- called also {shanks}.
8. pl. Flat-nosed pliers, used by opticians for nipping off
the edges of pieces of glass to make them round.
{Shank painter} (Naut.), a short rope or chain which holds
the shank of an anchor against the side of a vessel when
it is secured for a voyage.
{To ride shank's mare}, to go on foot; to walk.
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon
'gainst self-slaughter. --Shak.
2. (Eccl.) A law, or rule of doctrine or discipline, enacted
by a council and confirmed by the pope or the sovereign; a
decision, regulation, code, or constitution made by
ecclesiastical authority.
Various canons which were made in councils held in
the second centry. --Hock.
3. The collection of books received as genuine Holy
Scriptures, called the {sacred canon}, or general rule of
moral and religious duty, given by inspiration; the Bible;
also, any one of the canonical Scriptures. See {Canonical
books}, under {Canonical}, a.
4. In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious
order.
5. A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the
Roman Catholic Church.
6. A member of a cathedral chapter; a person who possesses a
prebend in a cathedral or collegiate church.
7. (Mus.) A musical composition in which the voices begin one
after another, at regular intervals, successively taking
up the same subject. It either winds up with a coda
(tailpiece), or, as each voice finishes, commences anew,
thus forming a perpetual fugue or round. It is the
strictest form of imitation. See {Imitation}.
8. (Print.) The largest size of type having a specific name;
-- so called from having been used for printing the canons
of the church.
9. The part of a bell by which it is suspended; -- called
also {ear} and {shank}.
Note: [See Illust. of {Bell}.] --Knight.
{Apostolical canons}. See under {Apostolical}.
{Augustinian canons}, {Black canons}. See under
{Augustinian}.
{Canon capitular}, {Canon residentiary}, a resident member of
a cathedral chapter (during a part or the whole of the
year).
{Canon of the Mass} (R. C. Ch.), that part of the mass,
following the Sanctus, which never changes.
{Honorary canon}, a canon who neither lived in a monastery,
nor kept the canonical hours.
{Minor canon} (Ch. of Eng.), one who has been admitted to a
chapter, but has not yet received a prebend.
{Regular canon} (R. C. Ch.), one who lived in a conventual
community and follower the rule of St. Austin; a Black
canon.
{Secular canon} (R. C. Ch.), one who did not live in a
monastery, but kept the hours.