Words nearby shake
shairp, shaitan, shaiva, shak., shaka, shake, shake a leg, shake a stick at, shake down, shake hands, shake in one's boots
Idioms for shake
Origin of shake
before 900; (v.) Middle English s(c)haken, Old English sceacan; cognate with Low German schacken, Old Norse skaka; (noun) derivative of the v.
SYNONYMS FOR shake
1 oscillate, waver. 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.
2 shudder, shiver.
14 daunt.
OTHER WORDS FROM shake
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH shake
shake sheik (see synonym study at the current entry)Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for shake one's head
shake
/ (ʃeɪk) /
verb shakes, shaking, shook or shaken (ˈʃeɪkən)
noun
Derived forms of shake
shakable or shakeable, adjectiveWord Origin for shake
Old English sceacan; related to Old Norse skaka to shake, Old High German untscachōn to be driven
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
Idioms and Phrases with shake one's head (1 of 2)
shake one's head
Express disapproval, dissent, or doubt, as in That announcement had us shaking our heads in dismay. This expression, which can be used both literally (for moving one's head from side to side) and figuratively, dates from about 1300.
Idioms and Phrases with shake one's head (2 of 2)
shake
In addition to the idioms beginning with shake
- shake a leg
- shake a stick at
- shake down
- shake hands
- shake in one's boots
- shake off
- shake one's head
- shake someone's tree
- shake the dust from one's feet
- shake up
- shake with laughter
also see:
- all shook (shaken) up
- fair shake
- in two shakes
- more than one can shake a stick at
- movers and shakers
- no great shakes
- quake (shake) in one's boots
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.