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shake
[ sheyk ]
verb (used without object)
- to move or sway with short, quick, irregular vibratory movements.
- to tremble with emotion, cold, etc.
- to become dislodged and fall (usually followed by off or down ):
Sand shakes off easily.
- to move something, or its support or container, briskly to and fro or up and down, as in mixing:
Shake before using.
- to totter; become unsteady.
- to clasp another's hand in greeting, agreement, congratulations, etc.:
Let's shake and be friends again.
- Music. to execute a trill.
verb (used with object)
- 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.
- to brandish or flourish:
to shake a stick at someone.
- 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.
- to dislodge or dispense (something) by short, quick, forcible movements of its support or container:
We shook nuts from the tree.
- to cause to sway, rock, totter, etc.:
to shake the very foundations of society.
- to agitate or disturb profoundly in feeling:
The experience shook him badly.
- to cause to doubt or waver; weaken:
to shake one's self-esteem.
Synonyms: daunt
- Music. to trill (a note).
- to mix (dice) by rolling in the palm of the hand before they are cast.
- to get rid of; elude:
They tried to shake their pursuers.
noun
- an act or instance of shaking, rocking, swaying, etc.
- tremulous motion.
- a tremor.
- (the) shakes. Informal. (used with a singular verb) a state or spell of trembling, as caused by fear, fever, cold, etc.:
I was up all night with a fever and the shakes.
- a disturbing blow; shock.
- Informal. milkshake.
- the act or a manner of clasping another's hand in greeting, agreement, etc.:
He has a strong shake.
- Informal. chance or treatment; deal: fair shake.
a fair shake;
a bum shake.
- a cast of the dice:
He threw an eight on his last shake.
- something resulting from shaking.
- an earthquake.
- a fissure in the earth.
- an internal crack or fissure in timber.
- Music. trill 1( def 9 ).
- an instant:
I'll be with you in a shake.
- Carpentry. a shingle or clapboard formed by splitting a short log into a number of tapered radial sections with a hatchet.
- 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.
- Chiefly South Midland U.S. shaker ( def 2 ).
- a dance deriving from the twist.
- Slang. the dried leaves of the marijuana plant.
verb phrase
- to rid oneself of; reject.
- to get away from; leave behind.
- 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.
- to cause to descend by shaking; bring down.
- to cause to settle.
- to condition; test:
to shake down a ship.
- Informal. to extort money from.
- Slang. to search (someone), especially to detect concealed weapons.
- to shake in order to mix or loosen.
- to upset; jar.
- to agitate mentally or physically:
The threat of attack has shaken up the entire country.
shake
/ ʃeɪk /
verb
- to move or cause to move up and down or back and forth with short quick movements; vibrate
- to sway or totter or cause to sway or totter
- to clasp or grasp (the hand) of (a person) in greeting, agreement, etc
he shook John's hand
he shook John by the hand
they shook and were friends
- shake handsshake hands to clasp hands in greeting, agreement, etc
- shake on it informal.shake on it to shake hands in agreement, reconciliation, etc
- to bring or come to a specified condition by or as if by shaking
he shook free and ran
- tr to wave or brandish
he shook his sword
- troften foll byup to rouse, stir, or agitate
- tr to shock, disturb, or upset
he was shaken by the news of her death
- tr to undermine or weaken
the crisis shook his faith
- to mix (dice) by rattling in a cup or the hand before throwing
- archaic.tr to steal
- informal.tr to escape from
can you shake that detective?
- music to perform a trill on (a note)
- informal.tr to fare or progress; happen as specified
how's it shaking?
- shake a leg informal.shake a leg to hurry: usually used in the imperative
- shake in one's shoesshake in one's shoes to tremble with fear or apprehension
- shake one's headshake one's head to indicate disagreement or disapproval by moving the head from side to side
- shake the dust from one's feetshake the dust from one's feet to depart gladly or with the intention not to return
noun
- the act or an instance of shaking
- a tremor or vibration
- the shakes informal.the shakes a state of uncontrollable trembling or a condition that causes it, such as a fever
- informal.a very short period of time; jiffy
in half a shake
- a shingle or clapboard made from a short log by splitting it radially
- a fissure or crack in timber or rock
- an instance of shaking dice before casting
- See trillmusic another word for trill 1
- a dance, popular in the 1960s, in which the body is shaken convulsively in time to the beat
- See earthquakean informal name for earthquake
- See milk shakeshort for milk shake
- no great shakes informal.no great shakes of no great merit or value; ordinary
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Derived Forms
- ˈshakable, adjective
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Other Words From
- shaka·ble shakea·ble adjective
- re·shake verb reshook reshaken reshaking
- un·shaka·ble adjective
- un·shaka·ble·ly adverb
- un·shakea·ble adjective
- un·shakea·ble·ly adverb
- un·shaken adjective
- well-shaken adjective
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Word History and Origins
Origin of shake1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of shake1
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Idioms and Phrases
- no great shakes, Informal. of no particular ability; unimportant; common:
As opera companies go, this one is no great shakes.
- shake a leg, Informal.
- to hurry up; get a move on:
You'd better shake a leg or we'll miss the first act.
- to dance.
- shake one's head,
- 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.
- to indicate approval, agreement, affirmation or acceptance by nodding one's head up and down.
- two shakes (of a lamb's tail), a very short time; a moment.
- shake hands. hand ( def 80 ).
- shake the dust from one's feet. dust ( def 26 ).
More idioms and phrases containing shake
- all shook (shaken) up
- fair shake
- in two shakes
- more than one can shake a stick at
- movers and shakers
- no great shakes
- quake (shake) in one's boots
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Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
Even internally in the House, women are not getting their fair shake.
He would shake a chilled Coke, and then spray the soda into a cold glass of milk.
Shake off any excess flour and gently place in the heated oil.
We shake hands and he immediately begins a monologue about prison breaks and South America.
I could not breathe.... When I would pass out, they would shake me and begin again.
The women at once rose and began to shake out their draperies and relax their muscles.
I would not trust their removal to any other hand, and so, the panel comes out without a shake.
The only thing that at all tended to shake this conviction, was the extraordinary poltroonery of our new captive.
At the station the head porter received their inquiry for a Bradshaw with a dull stare and a shake of the head.
Aristide picked it up and began to dance and shake his fist at the invisible police.
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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.
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