- present participle of shake.
shaking
Americannoun
-
shakings
plural
-
the act of a person or thing that shakes.
-
ague, with or without chill and fever.
-
Nautical. shakings, waste rope, canvas, etc.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of shaking
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at shake, -ing 1
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.
See Examples For:
Somewhere, Jonathan Gold is shaking his head in disgust.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
The pair made a poor start against Ukraine's Kostyuk and American Stearns before shaking off what Serena called "a little rust" in the second set.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
"We were here at home panicking a little, in our bodies, my arms were still shaking," she said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
She ran outside as the shaking began, receiving only a wound on her leg.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
My hands shaking, I whispered, ‘Forgive me, Hannie,’ and opened it.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
Nothing fell to the floor or broke, but it reminded him of the January shakings and made him worry that a big quake like that occurred even five months later.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 2, 2024
The first shakings came in 1972, when the players went on strike over their pension fund; the season lost 86 games out of a total of more than 160.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 29, 2012
In the 1960s, scientists set up seismometers across the world, allowing them to measure and record the slightest shakings almost anywhere.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2011
He shook his head, quick vision-clearing shakings and established himself in the world once more.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
Even more unnerving, because they are less well understood and capable of occurring anywhere at any time, are the rarer type of shakings known as intraplate quakes.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
