shake off

British  

verb

1. to remove or be removed with or as if with a quick movement

   she shook off her depression

2. (tr) to escape from; elude

   they shook off the police

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shake off Idioms  

1. Free oneself or get rid of something or someone, as in I've had a hard time shaking off this cold, or She forged ahead, shaking off all the other runners. It is also put as give someone the shake, as in We managed to give our pursuers the shake. The first term dates from the late 1300s; the slangy variant dates from the second half of the 1800s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shake off

Perhaps best of all: The movie has a gritty, charming meanness to it; a stickiness that’s hard to shake off.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

We just have to shake off a little rust first.

From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026

Another wondered: "Can he shake off the perception that he is a bit of a lightweight?"

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

“It is hard to shake off the bearish dynamic without a solution in the Middle East,” ING’s Benjamin Schroeder said in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

Even the modern world has found it hard to shake off this legacy.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall