# hank
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English hank, of Scandinavian/North Germanic origin; akin to Old Norse hǫnk (compare haki (“something bent”)), related to Proto-Germanic *hakô (“hook”). Akin to Old English hangian (“to hang”). First known use: 14th century.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /hæŋk/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -æŋk

### Noun

hank (plural hanks)
* A coil or loop of something, especially twine, yarn, or rope.
    Coordinate term: skein
** 1681, E.R., The Experienced Farrier, London, p. 307,
    […] the best thing of all to stop bleeding at the Nose, is to take a Hank of Coventry-blew thread, and hang it cross a stick, and set one end of it on fire […] and let him receive the smoak up his Nostrils […]
** 1796, Thomas Pennant, “History of Holywell Parish,”, in The History of the Parishes of Whiteford, and Holywell‎, London: B. and J. White, page 217:Cotton twist is spun here of 130 hanks to the pound. Each hank is 840 yards long […]
** 1859, George Eliot, chapter 9, in Adam Bede‎, volume 1, Edinburgh: William Blackwood, page 181:[…] her hair was as straight as a hank of cotton.
** 1919, Henry Blake Fuller, chapter 14, in Bertram Cope’s Year‎, Chicago: R.F. Seymour, page 131:The past year or two had brought knitting-needles into countenance for men, and he saw no reason why he should not put a few hanks of yarn into shape useful for himself.
** 1957, Nevil Shute, chapter 9, in On the Beach‎, New York: William Morrow:He found a hank of clothesline on a counter.
* (nautical) A ring or shackle that secures a staysail to its stay and allows the sail to glide smoothly up and down.
* (Ulster) Doubt, difficulty.
* (Ulster) Mess, tangle.
* A rope or withe for fastening a gate.
* (obsolete) Hold; influence.
** 1636 July, Robert Sanderson, “[Ad Aulam.] Sermon IV. Beuvoyr, July 1636”, in XXXIV Sermons. […], 5th edition, London: […] [A. Clark] for A. Seil, and are to be sold by G. Sawbridge, […], published 1671, →OCLC, paragraph 43, page 59:Seldom doth a man fall into a Preſumptuous Sin, but vvhere the Devil hath got ſuch a hanke over him, […]
* (wrestling) A throw in which a wrestler turns his left side to his opponent, twines his left leg about his opponent's right leg from the inside, and throws him backward.

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Verb

hank (third-person singular simple present hanks, present participle hanking, simple past and past participle hanked)
* (transitive) To form into hanks.
* (transitive, UK, dialect) To fasten with a rope, as a gate.
** 1573, Richard Dering, “Accounts Book”, in The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth, John Nichols, published 1823:where stood a fyne howse newly built and vaulted, over wheron her armes was sett and hanked with tapestrye

#### Translations
### Further reading

* hank (unit of measure) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* Kahn, Khan, Nakh, ankh, khan

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From Old Norse hǫnk.

### Noun

hank f or m (definite singular hanka or hanken, indefinite plural hanker, definite plural hankene)
* a handle (e.g. on a cup)

### References

* “hank” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Alternative forms

* hanke

### Etymology

From Old Norse hanki.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /hɑŋk/

### Noun

hank m (definite singular hanken, indefinite plural hankar, definite plural hankane)
hank f (definite singular hanka, indefinite plural hanker, definite plural hankene)
* a handle (e.g. on a cup)

### References

* “hank” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.