shake
Americanverb (used without object)
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shakes,
present (3rd person singular)
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shook,
past
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shaken,
past participle
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shaking
present participle
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to move or sway with short, quick, irregular vibratory movements.
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to tremble with emotion, cold, etc.
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to become dislodged and fall (usually followed by off ordown ).
Sand shakes off easily.
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to move something, or its support or container, briskly to and fro or up and down, as in mixing.
Shake before using.
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to totter; become unsteady.
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to clasp another's hand in greeting, agreement, congratulations, etc..
Let's shake and be friends again.
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Music. to execute a trill.
verb (used with object)
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shakes,
present (3rd person singular)
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shook,
past
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shaken,
past participle
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shaking
present participle
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to move (something or its support or container) to and fro or up and down with short, quick, forcible movements.
to shake a bottle of milk.
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to brandish or flourish.
to shake a stick at someone.
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to grasp (someone or something) firmly in an attempt to move or rouse by, or as by, vigorous movement to and fro.
We shook the tree.
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to dislodge or dispense (something) by short, quick, forcible movements of its support or container.
We shook nuts from the tree.
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to cause to sway, rock, totter, etc..
to shake the very foundations of society.
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to agitate or disturb profoundly in feeling.
The experience shook him badly.
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to cause to doubt or waver; weaken.
to shake one's self-esteem.
- Synonyms:
- daunt
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Music. to trill (a note).
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to mix (dice) by rolling in the palm of the hand before they are cast.
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to get rid of; elude.
They tried to shake their pursuers.
noun
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shakes
plural
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an act or instance of shaking, rocking, swaying, etc.
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tremulous motion.
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a tremor.
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Informal. (the) shakes. a state or spell of trembling, as caused by fear, fever, cold, etc..
I was up all night with a fever and the shakes.
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a disturbing blow; shock.
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Informal. milkshake.
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the act or a manner of clasping another's hand in greeting, agreement, etc..
He has a strong shake.
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Informal. chance or treatment; deal.
a fair shake;
a bum shake.
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a cast of the dice.
He threw an eight on his last shake.
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something resulting from shaking.
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an earthquake.
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a fissure in the earth.
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an internal crack or fissure in timber.
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Music. trill.
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an instant.
I'll be with you in a shake.
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Carpentry. a shingle or clapboard formed by splitting a short log into a number of tapered radial sections with a hatchet.
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Horology. (in an escapement) the distance between the nearer corner of one pallet and the nearest tooth of the escape wheel when the other pallet arrests an escape tooth.
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Chiefly South Midland U.S. shaker.
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a dance deriving from the twist.
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Slang. the dried leaves of the marijuana plant.
verb phrase
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shake down
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to cause to descend by shaking; bring down.
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to cause to settle.
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to condition; test.
to shake down a ship.
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Informal. to extort money from.
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Slang. to search (someone), especially to detect concealed weapons.
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shake up
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to shake in order to mix or loosen.
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to upset; jar.
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to agitate mentally or physically.
The threat of attack has shaken up the entire country.
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shake off
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to rid oneself of; reject.
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to get away from; leave behind.
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Baseball, Softball. (of a pitcher) to indicate rejection of (a sign by the catcher for a certain pitch) by shaking the head or motioning with the glove.
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idioms
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shake hands. hand.
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shake the dust from one's feet. dust.
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two shakes (of a lamb's tail), a very short time; a moment.
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shake one's head,
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to indicate disapproval, disagreement, negation, or uncertainty by turning one's head from one side to the other and back.
I asked him if he knew the answer, but he just shook his head.
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to indicate approval, agreement, affirmation or acceptance by nodding one's head up and down.
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no great shakes, of no particular ability; unimportant; common.
As opera companies go, this one is no great shakes.
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shake a leg,
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to hurry up; get a move on.
You'd better shake a leg or we'll miss the first act.
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to dance.
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verb
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to move or cause to move up and down or back and forth with short quick movements; vibrate
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to sway or totter or cause to sway or totter
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to clasp or grasp (the hand) of (a person) in greeting, agreement, etc
he shook John by the hand
he shook John's hand
they shook and were friends
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to clasp hands in greeting, agreement, etc
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informal to shake hands in agreement, reconciliation, etc
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to bring or come to a specified condition by or as if by shaking
he shook free and ran
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(tr) to wave or brandish
he shook his sword
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to rouse, stir, or agitate
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(tr) to shock, disturb, or upset
he was shaken by the news of her death
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(tr) to undermine or weaken
the crisis shook his faith
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to mix (dice) by rattling in a cup or the hand before throwing
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archaic (tr) to steal
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informal (tr) to escape from
can you shake that detective?
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music to perform a trill on (a note)
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informal (tr) to fare or progress; happen as specified
how's it shaking?
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informal to hurry: usually used in the imperative
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to tremble with fear or apprehension
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to indicate disagreement or disapproval by moving the head from side to side
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to depart gladly or with the intention not to return
noun
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the act or an instance of shaking
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a tremor or vibration
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informal a state of uncontrollable trembling or a condition that causes it, such as a fever
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informal a very short period of time; jiffy
in half a shake
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a shingle or clapboard made from a short log by splitting it radially
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a fissure or crack in timber or rock
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an instance of shaking dice before casting
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music another word for trill 1
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a dance, popular in the 1960s, in which the body is shaken convulsively in time to the beat
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an informal name for earthquake
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short for milk shake
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informal of no great merit or value; ordinary
Synonym Usage
Shake, quiver, tremble, vibrate refer to an agitated movement that, in living things, is often involuntary. To shake is to agitate more or less quickly, abruptly, and often unevenly so as to disturb the poise, stability, or equilibrium of a person or thing: a pole shaking under his weight. To quiver is to exhibit a slight vibratory motion such as that resulting from disturbed or irregular (surface) tension: The surface of the pool quivered in the breeze. To tremble (used more often of a person) is to be agitated by intermittent, involuntary movements of the muscles, much like shivering and caused by fear, cold, weakness, great emotion, etc.: Even stout hearts tremble with dismay. To vibrate is to exhibit a rapid, rhythmical motion: A violin string vibrates when a bow is drawn across it.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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reshakeverb
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shakableadjective
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shakeableadjective
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unshakableadjective
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unshakeableadjective
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unshakenadjective
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well-shakenadjective
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unshakablelyadverb
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unshakeablelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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shakesimple
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shakessimple
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have shakenperfect
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has shakenperfect
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am shakingprogressive
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are shakingprogressive
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is shakingprogressive
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have been shakingperfect progressive
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has been shakingperfect progressive
Past
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shooksimple
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had shakenperfect
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was shakingprogressive
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were shakingprogressive
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had been shakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shake
First recorded before before 900; Middle English (verb) s(c)haken, Old English sceacan; cognate with Low German schacken, Old Norse skaka; the noun is derived from the verb
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In his 2010 autobiography, My Life on Mars, he recalled a builder stopping him in The Open University car park to shake his hand.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Powerful open model is set to shake up AI race.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
It took a lot to shake up the 48-year-old.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
To this day I can’t shake a three-sentence description of birds driven onto cholla thorns by the winds of a thunderstorm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
But his voice seemed to shake a little as he spoke.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
Lululemon is seeking a new chief brand officer and a chief communications officer as its new CEO shakes up the C-suite.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Amarpreet Singh has been drinking protein shakes since he was 16.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
It’s going to be an interesting time to see how that shakes itself out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
“Sometimes you just kind of have to power through the clamminess and the shakes and the racing heart,” said Matt Schulz, the chief consumer-finance analyst at LendingTree, who wrote a book on the topic.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Eddie shakes her head, binoculars still pressed against her eyes.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
When Matisse Thybulle was asked what it has been like trying to defend offensive savants Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves during the Lakers training camp, he shook his head and smiled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
The speed and force violently shook the airframe, formed shock waves along with wings and sent ripples along the components used to control direction and manipulate speed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
And even if it wasn't obvious at the final whistle as he calmly shook hands with Stale Solbakken and his staff, Bellamy knew it too.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
He shook hands with a now beleaguered Martin O'Neill and pretty much got out of there.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Inside, the howling winds quieted to a dull roar, and though the leaves and limbs shook, Clare knew they would hold.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Foreign students at several international schools were shaken after spending part of the afternoon sheltering in place in windowless rooms, said a mother who spoke to parents at several of the schools.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Effectively, the recent sharp rally and positive chart outlook “have shaken out short sellers,” Morrison wrote, meaning those who were betting on bitcoin to fall were forced to close those positions.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
Additional footage posted to TikTok appears to show a visibly shaken Lucki climbing into the back seat of a black car with a wound near his jaw.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
Some residents said they had been "shaken by the incident" but that "community spirit and local support has been exceptional".
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
It feels so much worse than being shaken around in the Shake and Bake test.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
Strong shaking in Panama City, over 200 kilometers from the epicenter, sent panicked people pouring into the streets from the capital's numerous high-rise buildings.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
Residents near the epicenter of a major earthquake in southern Panama began cleaning up on Saturday, traumatized by the previous day's heavy shaking that left widespread damage but so far no reported deaths.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
The moves show how Italy’s biggest banks are playing their cards to prevail in a yearslong wave of dealmaking that is shaking up the sector.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
"My temperature went up, my heart rate went up, I was shaking uncontrollably and unfortunately went straight to A&E."
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Gobbling and gulping I trailed about the room after Pickwick, shaking the hands of the people he singled out.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
