shaker

American  

[shey-ker] / ˈʃeɪ kər /

noun

• shakers
  plural

1. a person or thing that shakes.

2. a container with a perforated top from which a seasoning, condiment, sugar, flour, or the like is shaken onto food.

3. any of various containers for shaking beverages to mix the ingredients.

   a cocktail shaker.

4. a dredger or caster.

5. (initial capital letter) a member of the Millennial Church, originating in England in the middle of the 18th century and brought to the U.S. in 1774, advocating celibacy, common ownership of property, and a strict and simple way of life: so called from their practice of shaking during religious services.

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adjective

1. (initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to a style of something produced by Shakers and characterized by simplicity of form, lack of ornamentation, fine craftsmanship, and functionality.

shaker British  

/ ˈʃeɪkə /

noun

1. a person or thing that shakes

2. a container, often having a perforated top, from which something, such as a condiment, is shaken

3. a container in which the ingredients of alcoholic drinks are shaken together

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shaker Idioms  

1. see mover and shaker.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• shakers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of shaker

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at shake, -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shaker shakers

Woe betide the philistine who requests a salt shaker or asks that a meticulously prepared dish be spice-bombed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

"So he was a real mover and shaker of the movement".

From BBC ● May 17, 2026

He held up a shaker filled with salt and spices and pointed out the little holes on the shaker’s cover.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2025

Before that, I only knew the Kraft shaker bottle.

From Salon ● May 23, 2025

It still has her five-dollar bill stuck under the salt shaker, a half-empty cup of coffee, a dirty fork and an empty place mat with syrup stains.

From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson

But each now has his own range of merch... and visitors flock for a glimpse of these meeow-vers and shakers.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

There are also some wild cards, including conservative venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and two other movers and shakers from the tech world who will serve on a task force on employment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

There, Chip stands in front of the cheese case for a moment, brushing past the string cheese and the Parmesan shakers before settling on a packet of American singles.

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026

It’s all part of an effort, observers say, for the companies to properly position themselves with the movers and shakers in town.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 24, 2026

Then we looked at each other, or the table, or the salt and pepper shakers, for what, seemed like a very long time.

From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth

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