shake (shāk)

v., shook (shʊk), shak·en (shā'kən), shak·ing, shakes.

v.tr.

1. To cause to move to and fro with jerky movements.
2. To cause to quiver, tremble, vibrate, or rock.
3. To cause to lose stability or waver: a crisis that shook my deepest beliefs.
4. To remove or dislodge by jerky movements: shook the dust from the cushions.
5. 1. To bring to a specified condition by or as if by shaking: "It is not easy to shake one's heart free of the impression" (John Middleton Murry).
   2. Slang. To get rid of: couldn't shake the man who was following us.
6. To disturb or agitate; unnerve: She was shaken by the news of the disaster.
7. To brandish or wave, especially in anger: shake one's fist.
8. To clasp (hands) in greeting or leave-taking or as a sign of agreement.
9. Music. To trill (a note).
10. Games. To rattle and mix (dice) before casting.

v.intr.

1. To move to and fro in short, irregular, often jerky movements.
2. To tremble, as from cold or in anger.
3. To be unsteady; totter or waver.
4. To move something vigorously up and down or from side to side, as in mixing.
5. Music. To trill.
6. To shake hands: Let's shake on it.

n.

1. The act of shaking.
2. A trembling or quivering movement.
3. Informal. An earthquake.
4. 1. A fissure in rock.
   2. A crack in timber caused by wind or frost.
5. Informal. A moment or instant; a trice: I'll do it in a shake.
6. Music. A trill.
7. 1. See milk shake (sense 1).
   2. A beverage in which the ingredients are mixed by shaking.
8. A rough shingle used to cover rustic buildings, such as barns: cedar shakes.
9. shakes Informal. Uncontrollable trembling, as in a person who is cold, frightened, feverish, or ill. Often used with the: was suffering from a bad case of the shakes.
10. Slang. A bargain or deal: getting a fair shake.

phrasal verbs:

shake down

1. Slang. To extort money from.
2. Slang. To make a thorough search of: shook down the prisoners' cells for hidden weapons.
3. To subject (a new ship or aircraft) to shakedown testing.
4. To become acclimated or accustomed, as to a new environment or a new job.

shake off

1. To free oneself of; get rid of: We shook off our fears.

shake up

1. To upset by or as if by a physical jolt or shock: was badly shaken up by the accident.
2. To subject to a drastic rearrangement or reorganization: new management bent on shaking up the company.

idioms:

give (someone) the shake Slang.

1. To escape from or get rid of: We managed to give our pursuers the shake.

no great shakes Slang.

1. Unexceptional; ordinary: "stepping in between the victim and the bully, even when the victim happens to be no great shakes" (Louis Auchincloss).

shake a leg Informal.

1. To dance.
2. To move quickly; hurry up.

shake (another's) tree Slang.

1. To arouse to action or reaction; disturb: "[He] so shook Hollywood's tree that . . . all manner of . . . people called me unsolicited to itemize his mistakes or praise his courage" (Tina Brown).

shake a stick at Slang.

1. To point out, designate, or name: "All of a sudden there came into being a vast conservative infrastructure: think-tanks . . . and more foundations than you could shake a stick at" (National Review).

[Middle English schaken, from Old English sceacan.]

shakable shak'a·ble or shake'a·ble adj.

SYNONYMS   shake, tremble, quake, quiver, shiver, shudder. These verbs mean to manifest involuntary vibratory movement. Shake is the most general: The floor shook when I walked heavily across the room. Tremble implies quick, rather slight movement, as from excitement, weakness, or anger: The speaker trembled as he denounced his opponents. Quake refers to more violent movement, as that caused by shock or upheaval: I was so scared that my legs began to quake. Quiver suggests a slight, rapid, tremulous movement: "Her lip quivered like that of a child about to cry" (Booth Tarkington). Shiver involves rapid trembling, as of a person experiencing chill: "as I in hoary winter night stood shivering in the snow" (Robert Southwell). Shudder applies chiefly to convulsive shaking caused by fear, horror, or revulsion: "She starts like one that spies an adder/ . . . The fear whereof doth make him shake and shudder" (Shakespeare). See also synonyms at agitate, dismay.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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