shimmy

[ shim-ee ]
See synonyms for shimmy on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural shim·mies.
  1. an American ragtime dance marked by shaking of the hips and shoulders.

  2. excessive wobbling in the front wheels of a motor vehicle.

  1. a chemise.

verb (used without object),shim·mied, shim·my·ing.
  1. to dance the shimmy.

  2. to shake, wobble, or vibrate.

Origin of shimmy

1
First recorded in 1830–40 for def. 3; 1915–20 for def. 1; back formation and respelling of chemise, construed as a plural

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use shimmy in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for shimmy

shimmy

/ (ˈʃɪmɪ) /


nounplural -mies
  1. an American ragtime dance with much shaking of the hips and shoulders

  2. abnormal wobbling motion in a motor vehicle, esp in the front wheels or steering

  1. an informal word for chemise

verb-mies, -mying or -mied (intr)
  1. to dance the shimmy

  2. to vibrate or wobble

Origin of shimmy

1
C19: changed from chemise, mistakenly assumed to be plural

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012