Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a long, thin person, lit. ‘thin legs’; thin legs; also as adj.; thus spindle-shanked/spindly-shanked/spyndle-shank’d adj.

1570		Marriage of Wit and Science II i: But what if she finde fault with these spindle shankes.
1596		‘Misdiaboles’ Ulysses upon Ajax 42: I could write in praise of spindleshanks, because Germanicus had such.
c.1600		Timon in Dyce (1842) II i: I had many sutors, / But foolishlie I did reject them all; / First, Traneo because his beard was red [...] Demetrius / Cause he was spindle shankt.
1602		J. Cooke How A Man May Choose A Good Wife From A Bad Act II: When didst thou see the starueling School-maister? That Rat, that Shrimp, that Spindle-shank.
1673		T. Shadwell Epsom Wells V i: A Company of Spindle-shank Pocky Fellows.
1699		Farquhar Love and a Bottle III ii: You have almost crack’d my Thread of Life, as may appear by my Spindle-shanks.
1699		A great & famous scoldling-match 7: She has the Devils Luck, for a Spindle-shank’d Taylor supplies her with Rigging from time to time.
1703		R. Steele Tender Husband I i: A Weezel-faced cross old gentleman, with spindle-shanks.
1716		J. Addison Drummer I i: What dost thou do in bed with this spindle-shank’d fellow?
1723		Swift ‘Mary the Cookmaid’s Letter’ in Chalmers Eng. Poets XI (1810) 433: My master is a parsonable man, and not a spindle-shank’d hoddy-doddy.
1741		‘Conny Keyber’ An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews 50: O! what a devilish thing it is, for a Woman to be obliged to go to bed to a spindle-shanked young Squire, she doth not like.
1748		Spy on Mother Midnight I 20: He’s none of your Spindle-shanks.
1780		‘My Man John’ Songsters Favorite 1: I hate his spindle shanks.
a.1790		C. Dibdin ‘The Waggoner’ Collection of Songs II 183: Lord bless your baby face, I would not hurt your spindle shanks for the world!
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1818		J. Hogg Wool-Gatherer 163: Away wi’ your spindel-shankit babyclouts – they’re no the gear.
1823		Oxford Jrnl 11 Oct. 4/3: Stumpy, a man with a wooden leg, Cowskin, Spindleshanks, Cockeye, Pig-tail and Yellow-belly were severally involked.
1823		[C.M. Westmacott] Mammon in London 1 85: A little wee man, with shanks of the spindle order.
1838		‘Nights At Sea’ Bentley’s Misc. Apr. 589: One spindle-shank, sliding, gunter-looking chap was cotch’d.
1843		W.L. Rede Our Village I ii: Horsewhip me! That’s a man’s job, spindleshanks.
1848		Thackeray Vanity Fair III 219: A little sniffy spindle-shanked gentleman in waiting.
1853		Lloyds Wkly Newspaper 30 Jan. 1/2: Standing, tottering upon spindle-shanks, swathed and paddled witrh falsehood and fraud.
1856		Tiffin Trib. (OH) 14 Nov. 1/7: Four ‘’prentice’ boys and five spindle-shanked men.
1861		D. Cook Paul Foster’s Daughter I 212: We’re fallen upon spindle-shank times in art, sir; because Fritter has no legs himself worth speaking of, he ignores them in art.
1866		Wild Boys of London I 221/2: I wish I vos a puppy. When I growed to be a big tike, I’d [...] bite yer spindle shanks.
1877		‘A Cogie O’ Yill’ Laughing Songster 136: But your spyndle-shank’d sparks, / Wha sae ill fill their sarks.
1881		Manchester Courier 25 June 5: A Texas Mother-In-Law [addressing a policeman] To think of this peaky, little, worthless, spindle-shanked, goggled-eyed whelp getting clear off.
1883		J. Greenwood Tag, Rag & Co. 172: What a poor, spindle-shanked fellow he was.
1886		M.E. Braddon Mohawks III 111: He warmed his spindleshanks at the blaze.
1899		A. Binstead Gal’s Gossip 90: My dear, don’t you remember the spindleshanks we used to see when bathing at Trouville.
1907		Stevens Point Jrnl (WI) 6 Apr. 3/3: The modern city man is too spindle-shanked and knock-kneed to wear them.
1915		M.G. Hayden ‘Terms Of Disparagement’ in DN IV:iii 207: spindle-legs, -shanks, long shanks. ‘At school the girls always called me spindle-shanks.’.
1918		E. O’Neill Bound East for Cardiff (1923) 7: A spindle-shanked, grey-whiskered auld fool.
1929		Eve. Teleg. (Dundee) 20 Sept. 5/4: Doublet and hose cover spindle-shanks and knock-knees.
1935		J. Conroy World to Win 72: If I had knowed he was so spindly-shanked, I’d never hired him.
1958		G. Casey Snowball 187: The spindle-shanked, pot-bellied desert nomads who drifted around the outskirts of towns on their periodical walkabouts.
1975		(con. 1900s) G. Swarthout Shootist 58: Dobkins was a spindle-shanked young fellow.