| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
shake (ʃeɪk) ![]() | |
| —vb (often foll by up) , shakes, shaking, shook, shaken | |
| 1. | to move or cause to move up and down or back and forth with short quick movements; vibrate |
| 2. | to sway or totter or cause to sway or totter |
| 3. | to clasp or grasp (the hand) of (a person) in greeting, agreement, etc: he shook John by the hand; he shook John's hand; they shook and were friends |
| 4. | shake hands to clasp hands in greeting, agreement, etc |
| 5. | informal shake on it to shake hands in agreement, reconciliation, etc |
| 6. | to bring or come to a specified condition by or as if by shaking: he shook free and ran |
| 7. | (tr) to wave or brandish: he shook his sword |
| 8. | to rouse, stir, or agitate |
| 9. | (tr) to shock, disturb, or upset: he was shaken by the news of her death |
| 10. | (tr) to undermine or weaken: the crisis shook his faith |
| 11. | to mix (dice) by rattling in a cup or the hand before throwing |
| 12. | archaic, slang (Austral) (tr) to steal |
| 13. | informal (US), (Canadian) (tr) to escape from: can you shake that detective? |
| 14. | music to perform a trill on (a note) |
| 15. | informal (US) (tr) to fare or progress; happen as specified: how's it shaking? |
| 16. | informal shake a leg to hurry: usually used in the imperative |
| 17. | shake in one's shoes to tremble with fear or apprehension |
| 18. | shake one's head to indicate disagreement or disapproval by moving the head from side to side |
| 19. | shake the dust from one's feet to depart gladly or with the intention not to return |
| —n | |
| 20. | the act or an instance of shaking |
| 21. | a tremor or vibration |
| 22. | informal the shakes a state of uncontrollable trembling or a condition that causes it, such as a fever |
| 23. | informal a very short period of time; jiffy: in half a shake |
| 24. | a shingle or clapboard made from a short log by splitting it radially |
| 25. | a fissure or crack in timber or rock |
| 26. | an instance of shaking dice before casting |
| 27. | music another word for trill |
| 28. | a dance, popular in the 1960s, in which the body is shaken convulsively in time to the beat |
| 29. | an informal name for earthquake |
| 30. | short for milk shake |
| 31. | informal no great shakes of no great merit or value; ordinary |
| [Old English sceacan; related to Old Norse skaka to shake, Old High German untscachōn to be driven] | |
| 'shakable | |
| —adj | |
| 'shakeable | |
| —adj | |
| shake off | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to remove or be removed with or as if with a quick movement: she shook off her depression |
| 2. | (tr) to escape from; elude: they shook off the police |
shake definition
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shake (so) definition
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shake off
Free oneself or get rid of something or someone, as in I've had a hard time shaking off this cold, or She forged ahead, shaking off all the other runners. It is also put as give someone the shake, as in We managed to give our pursuers the shake. The first term dates from the late 1300s; the slangy variant dates from the second half of the 1800s.