shuffle off
Britishverb
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Get rid of, act evasively, as in They've tried to shuffle off public inquiries about the safety of their planes . This usage, dating from about 1600, also appears in the oft-quoted shuffle off this mortal coil , from Shakespeare's Hamlet (3:1), where it means “become freed from the turmoil of life,” that is, “die.”
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Move away reluctantly, dragging one's feet, as in The prisoners shuffled off to their work detail . [Late 1500s]
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.
Do not be fooled by suggestions Australia have unveiled a list of geriatrics, ready to shuffle off to a cricketing retirement home, tending the garden in their baggy green caps.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2025
“Barbie” was the year’s greatest Trojan horse, a pop art tale of empowerment that wants us to think about what it means to shuffle off this mortal coil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2024
What is it that we will remember from our lives before we all shuffle off this mortal coil?
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 2, 2023
While some shrews shuffle off this mortal coil in less than 14 months, bowhead whales can swim in Arctic waters for more than two centuries.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 31, 2023
I grab hold and shuffle off, concentrating on my feet.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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.
