What does "shawshank" mean?

A literal or figurative prison.

What is a synonym for "shawshank"?

Common synonyms include: turn out.

noun, verb

noun, verb ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A literal or figurative prison.
"We all have our Shawshanks. Some of us have broken free."

Verb

1
To escape, especially by tunneling out or without warning.
"After endless Shawshanking through the ducts, I came to a grate that offered my first break from the horror show."
2
To punish (someone) for something that they did not do.
"Jim hadn't, but he did agree to give us more time before he Shawshanked me."
3
To accomplish something by doing a little bit at a time over a long period of time.
"I had just given notice at work that I was taking a leave and I wanted to start "Shawshanking" things home"
4
To rape (a man, by a man) as an act of dominance and bullying.
"This isn't an act of love; he's basically getting Shawshanked by a long-necked bully."

"After endless Shawshanking through the ducts, I came to a grate that offered my first break from the horror show."

A reference to the 1982 novel Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King and its 1994 film adaptation The Shawshank Redemption.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.