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

U.S. stocks have kept chugging higher this year, but bonds haven’t been able to shake off a five-year slump.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

A24 released the first full trailer for “You Can See Everything” on Wednesday after its tense teaser went viral earlier this month ... and was hard for viewers to shake off.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

The city itself is geographically isolated, and has only recently begun to climb out of a long period of economic stagnation and to shake off a gritty reputation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

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

I would later learn how to shake off these kind of setbacks in competition and get my head back in the game.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles