hank, n.³ — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

hank n.³

[dial. hank, a hook, a loop; i.e. one is fig. ‘hung on a hook’, rather than moving back to work]

a break from work, gained by pretending to be feeling unwell or some other small lie.

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 245: hank a spell or cessation from any work or duty, on the score of indisposition, or some other pretence.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1888		Sporting Life 7 Dec. n.p.: So quiet was the first round that the ire of the company was raised, and they called out, ‘No hank!’ [F&H].