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:
The first laser pulse served as the "shake," breaking apart the electronic checkerboard.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
“He was willing to take up significant risks to shake up the system. He believed in giving the market a bigger role in the economy,” said former U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
"We didn't get to shake hands with her, but we were definitely breathing the same air."
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
"Suddenly it started to shake and I panicked," 31-year-old hospital customer service official and Maumere resident, Lukas Lotar, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
“Well, the next time you see him,” I said, getting to my feet, “you tell him that I’d like to meet him and shake hands with him.”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
However that case shakes out, a couple of things are clear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
I do, though, hope he shakes things up and doesn't just stick with guys that have proven they can't take us up to the next level.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Plus, a $500 billion AI financing deal, and the AI boom shakes up South Korea’s dating scene.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
The TV variation of Max Cady is where the classic prestige drama Difficult Man shakes hands with a manosphere cultist’s pent-up aggression.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
She shakes her head in a friendly way when she sees me.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
Instead, he told me, he shook his head and left.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
DeepSeek, the Chinese AI developer that shook markets last January after releasing its own advanced model, quickly faded as a threat to the AI boom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
A mother of one living near one of the military camps that were hit told AFP the strikes shook the windows and doors like a quake.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Danielle Belton, who runs a business nearby, said the derailment was so loud it shook her office.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
“But destruction of property . . .” I set my jaw hard and shook my head in denial.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Use it anywhere a little concentrated summer would be welcome: shaken into cocktails or mocktails, stirred into iced matcha or sparkling water, drizzled over gelato or spooned onto yogurt.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake has shaken western Colombia.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
When Deep Fission broke ground in December, some residents were shaken.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was "shaken and outraged" by the attack on "our open society, our way of life" and expressed his condolences to the family and friends of the dead woman.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
It was as though his entire world had been suddenly and violently uprooted, shaken to its very core.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
In 2018, one episode was taped in a jeep while driving on a muddy road in Kenya and shaking back and forth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Somewhere, Jonathan Gold is shaking his head in disgust.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Alfonso Malpica said he felt his ground floor flat in Granada shaking, telling El País newspaper that the quake was "stronger than the ones that happen from time to time, the ones we're used to".
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Yohanes Babo, 56, a resident of Nagekeo, said he was at a market when the earth started shaking in the early morning hours.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
“No, I don’t want you down in those bottoms,” Mama said, shaking her head.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
