shanty
noun/ˈʃænti/
/ˈʃænti/
(plural shanties)
- a small house, built of pieces of wood, metal and cardboard, where very poor people live, especially on the edge of a big city
- Nearly 20% of the city’s inhabitants live in shanty towns.
- The whole family lives in a shanty made of wood, mud and tin.
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- (also sea shanty)(US English chanty, chantey)a song that sailors traditionally used to sing while pulling ropes, etc.Topics Musicc2
Word Originsense 1 early 19th cent. (originally a North American usage): perhaps from Canadian French chantier ‘lumberjack's cabin, logging camp’.sense 2 mid 19th cent.: probably from French chantez! ‘sing!’, imperative plural of chanter.
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