shakedown
or shake-down
extortion, as by blackmail or threats of violence.
a thorough search: a shakedown of prison cells to uncover hidden drugs.
a bed, as of straw or blankets, spread on the floor.
any makeshift bed.
the act or process of shaking down.
Also called shakedown cruise, shakedown flight . a cruise or flight intended to prepare a new vessel or aircraft for regular service by accustoming the crew to its features and peculiarities, breaking in and adjusting machinery, etc.
Origin of shakedown
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use shakedown in a sentence
One might hypothesize the maid was part of a scam to shake down any rich old man in a luxury suite.
But not everyone does: Courtship is a massively multiplayer game whose rules shake down differently for each player.
And I am not sure even now that when these two things are found in one and the same woman they ever really shake down together.
In Accordance with the Evidence | Oliver OnionsThe hair should be so securely put up that it will not shake down, and that the hair-pins will not work out.
Horsemanship for Women | Theodore Hoe MeadThe hermit said unto the deer, O deer, why didst thou shake down the seed?
Laos Folk-Lore of Farther India | Katherine Neville Fleeson
I often climb into the trees in Charlotte's orchard, and shake down the pears that hang on the highest branches.
The Sorrows of Young Werther | J.W. von GoetheIf we once thoroughly understood each other we'd shake down better and go our ways in peace.
Married Life | May Edginton
British Dictionary definitions for shake down
to fall or settle or cause to fall or settle by shaking
(tr) US slang to extort money from, esp by blackmail or threats of violence
(tr) US slang to search thoroughly
(tr) informal, mainly US to submit (a vessel, etc) to a shakedown test
(intr) to go to bed, esp to a makeshift bed
(intr) (of a person, animal, etc) to settle down
US slang a swindle or act of extortion
US slang a thorough search
a makeshift bed, esp of straw, blankets, etc
informal, mainly US
a voyage to test the performance of a ship or aircraft or to familiarize the crew with their duties
(as modifier): a shakedown run
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with shakedown
Extort money from, as in They had quite a racket, shaking down merchants for so-called protection. [Slang; second half of 1800s]
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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