Carpentry. a shingle or clapboard formed by splitting a short log into a number of tapered radial sections with a hatchet.
34.
Horology. (in an escapement) the distance between the nearer corner of one pallet and the nearest tooth of the escape wheel when the other pallet arrests an escape tooth.
Slang. to search (someone), esp. to detect concealed weapons.
39.
shake off,
a.
to rid oneself of; reject.
b.
to get away from; leave behind.
c.
Baseball,Softball. (of a pitcher) to indicate rejection of (a sign by the catcher for a certain pitch) by shaking the head or motioning with the glove.
40.
shake up,
a.
to shake in order to mix or loosen.
b.
to upset; jar.
c.
to agitate mentally or physically: The threat of attack has shaken up the entire country.
—Idioms
41.
no great shakes, Informal. of no particular ability; unimportant; common: As opera companies go, this one is no great shakes.
42.
shake a leg, Informal.
a.
to hurry up; get a move on: You'd better shake a leg or we'll miss the first act.
to indicate disapproval, disagreement, negation, or uncertainty by turning one's head from one side to the other and back: I asked him if he knew the answer, but he just shook his head.
b.
to indicate approval, agreement, affirmation or acceptance by nodding one's head up and down.
two shakes or two shakes of a lamb's tail, a very short time; a moment.
[Origin: bef. 900; (v.) ME s(c)haken, OE sceacan; c. LG schacken, ON skaka; (n.) deriv. of the v.]
—Related forms
shak·a·ble, shake·a·ble, adjective
—Synonyms 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.
A beverage made of milk, flavoring, and ice cream, shaken or whipped until foamy. Also called shake; also called regionally cabinet, frappe, velvet.
New England A beverage made of milk and flavored syrup, whipped until foamy.
To most Americans, a milk shake, that thick, sweet accompaniment to a hamburger and fries, naturally includes ice cream. But speakers in parts of New England make finer distinctions in their ice cream terminology. To a person living in Rhode Island or the adjoining part of Massachusetts, a milk shake consists of milk shaken up with flavored syrup and nothing more; if ice cream is included, the drink is called a cabinet, possibly, says food writer John F. Mariani in The Dictionary of American Food and Drink, named after the square wooden cabinet in which the mixer was encased. Farther north in New England, the same drink is called a velvet or a frappe (from French frapper, "to ice").
A beverage in which the ingredients are mixed by shaking.
A rough shingle used to cover rustic buildings, such as barns: cedar shakes.
shakesInformal 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.
Slang A bargain or deal: getting a fair shake.
Slang To extort money from.
Slang To make a thorough search of: shook down the prisoners' cells for hidden weapons.
To subject (a new ship or aircraft) to shakedown testing.
To become acclimated or accustomed, as to a new environment or a new job.
To upset by or as if by a physical jolt or shock: was badly shaken up by the accident.
To subject to a drastic rearrangement or reorganization: new management bent on shaking up the company.
Phrasal Verb(s): shake down
Slang To extort money from.
Slang To make a thorough search of: shook down the prisoners' cells for hidden weapons.
To subject (a new ship or aircraft) to shakedown testing.
To become acclimated or accustomed, as to a new environment or a new job.
shake off
To free oneself of; get rid of: We shook off our fears. shake up
To upset by or as if by a physical jolt or shock: was badly shaken up by the accident.
To subject to a drastic rearrangement or reorganization: new management bent on shaking up the company.
Idiom(s):
give (someone) the shake Slang
To escape from or get rid of: We managed to give our pursuers the shake.
Idiom(s):
no great shakes Slang
Unexceptional; ordinary: "stepping in between the victim and the bully, even when the victim happens to be no great shakes"(Louis Auchincloss).
Idiom(s):
shake a leg Informal
To dance.
To move quickly; hurry up.
Idiom(s):
shake (another's) tree Slang
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).
Idiom(s):
shake a stick at Slang
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.]
shak'a·ble, shake'a·ble adj.
Synonyms: 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.
O.E. sceacan "to vibrate, make vibrate, move away" (class VI strong verb; past tense scoc, pp. scacen), from P.Gmc. *skakanan (cf. O.N., Swed. skaka, Dan. skage "to shift, turn, veer"). No certain cognates outside Gmc. except perhaps Skt. khaj "to agitate, churn." To shake hands dates from 1535. Shaky "insecure, unreliable" (of credit, etc.) is from 1841. Shake a leg "hurry up" first recorded 1904; shake a heel (sometimes foot) was an old way to say "to dance" (1667). Phrase more _____ than you can shake a stick at is attested from 1818, Amer.Eng. To shake (one's) head as a sign of disapproval is recorded from c.1300. Shaken, of persons, "weakened and agitated by shocks" is from 1641.
c.1380, from shake (v.). As a type of instantaneous action, it is recorded from 1816. Phrase fair shake "honest deal" is attested from 1830, Amer.Eng. The shakes "nervous agitation" is from 1624. Shakeout "business upheaval" is from 1895; shake-up "reorganization" is from 1899. Dismissive phrase no great shakes (1816) perhaps is from dicing.
building material used as siding or roofing [syn: shingle]
2.
frothy drink of milk and flavoring and sometimes fruit or ice cream [syn: milkshake]
3.
a note that alternates rapidly with another note a semitone above it [syn: trill]
4.
grasping and shaking a person's hand (as to acknowledge an introduction or to agree on a contract) [syn: handshake]
5.
a reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement [syn: tremble]
6.
causing to move repeatedly from side to side [syn: wag]
verb
1.
move or cause to move back and forth; "The chemist shook the flask vigorously"; "My hands were shaking"
2.
move with or as if with a tremor; "his hands shook"
3.
shake or vibrate rapidly and intensively; "The old engine was juddering" [syn: judder]
4.
move back and forth or sideways; "the ship was rocking"; "the tall building swayed"; "She rocked back and forth on her feet" [syn: rock]
5.
undermine or cause to waver; "my faith has been shaken"; "The bad news shook her hopes"
6.
stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of; "These stories shook the community"; "the civil war shook the country" [syn: stimulate]
7.
get rid of; "I couldn't shake the car that was following me"
8.
bring to a specified condition by or as if by shaking; "He was shaken from his dreams"; "shake the salt out of the salt shaker"
9.
shake (a body part) to communicate a greeting, feeling, or cognitive state; "shake one's head"; "She shook her finger at the naughty students"; "The old enemies shook hands"; "Don't shake your fist at me!"
to (cause to) tremble or move with jerks Example: The explosion shook the building; We were shaking with laughter; Her voice shook as she told me the sad news.
Shack\, v. t. [Prov. E., to shake, to shed. See Shake.]1. To shed or fall, as corn or grain at harvest. [Prov. Eng.] --Grose. 2. To feed in stubble, or upon waste corn. [Prov. Eng.] 3. To wander as a vagabond or a tramp. [Prev.Eng.]
Shac"kle\, n. [Generally used in the plural.] [OE. schakkyll, schakle, AS. scacul, sceacul, a shackle, fr. scacan to shake; cf. D. schakel a link of a chain, a mesh, Icel. sk["o]kull the pole of a cart. See Shake.]1. Something which confines the legs or arms so as to prevent their free motion; specifically, a ring or band inclosing the ankle or wrist, and fastened to a similar shackle on the other leg or arm, or to something else, by a chain or a strap; a gyve; a fetter. His shackles empty left; himself escaped clean. --Spenser. 2. Hence, that which checks or prevents free action. His very will seems to be in bonds and shackles. --South. 3. A fetterlike band worn as an ornament. Most of the men and women . . . had all earrings made of gold, and gold shackles about their legs and arms. --Dampier. 4. A link or loop, as in a chain, fitted with a movable bolt, so that the parts can be separated, or the loop removed; a clevis. 5. A link for connecting railroad cars; -- called also drawlink, draglink, etc. 6. The hinged and curved bar of a padlock, by which it is hung to the staple. --Knight. Shackle joint (Anat.), a joint formed by a bony ring passing through a hole in a bone, as at the bases of spines in some fishes.