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 offTo 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.