shake down
Britishverb
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to fall or settle or cause to fall or settle by shaking
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slang (tr) to extort money from, esp by blackmail or threats of violence
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slang (tr) to search thoroughly
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informal (tr) to submit (a vessel, etc) to a shakedown test
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(intr) to go to bed, esp to a makeshift bed
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(intr) (of a person, animal, etc) to settle down
noun
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slang a swindle or act of extortion
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slang a thorough search
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a makeshift bed, esp of straw, blankets, etc
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informal
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a voyage to test the performance of a ship or aircraft or to familiarize the crew with their duties
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( as modifier )
a shakedown run
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Extort money from, as in They had quite a racket, shaking down merchants for so-called protection . [ Slang ; second half of 1800s]
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Make a thorough search of, as in They shook down all the passengers, looking for drugs . [ Slang early 1900s]
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Subject a new vehicle or machine to a tryout, as in We'll shake down the new model next week .
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Become acclimated or accustomed, to a new place, job, or the like, as in Is this your first job? You'll soon shake down . [Mid-1800s]
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.
The precedent also encourages plaintiff attorneys to shake down companies.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025
So how will the "usual suspects", the "softies", the "newbies" and the "toadies" shake down?
From BBC • Mar. 15, 2025
In 2015, developer Triad was caught up in allegations that a company executive tried to shake down a Seattle City Council candidate.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 22, 2022
We read what Selin reads — Pushkin, Babel, Freud, Chekhov and, less happily for her, Martin Amis — and watch her ruthlessly shake down her life, comparing it to the lives she encounters in fiction.
From New York Times • May 9, 2022
My hands shake down to my fingertips, but I tap the screen and put the phone to my ear.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
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.
