Pronunciations (2)
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/ˈʃeɪk/
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ˈʃeɪk
Verb
To cause (something) to move rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly.
Usage- ergative
- Transitive
- Examples
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The earthquake shook the building.
He shook the can of soda for thirty seconds before delivering it to me, so that, when I popped it open, soda went everywhere.
More examples (1)
Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and now seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.
To move (one's head) from side to side, especially to indicate refusal, reluctance, or disapproval.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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Shaking his head, he kept repeating “No, no, no”.
I became alſo a reproch vnto them: when they looked vpon me, they ſhaked their heads.
To move or remove by agitating; to throw off by a jolting or vibrating motion.
- Examples
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to shake fruit down from a tree
The door finally shook free of its hinges.
More examples (2)
[…]Shake off the golden ſlumber of repoſe;[…]
But indeed this Shame was a bold Villain; I could ſcarce ſhake him out of my company; [...]
To disturb emotionally; to shock.
Usage- Transitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Her father’s death shook her terribly.
He was shaken by what had happened.
More examples (1)
Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.
To lose, evade, or get rid of (something).
Usage- idiomatic
- Transitive
- Examples
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I can’t shake the feeling that I forgot something.
Nothing could shake his faith.
To move from side to side.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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She shook with grief.
More examples (1)
The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.
To shake hands.
Usage- Intransitive
- usually
- as "shake on"
- Examples
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OK, let’s shake on it.
To dance.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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She was shaking it on the dance floor.
To give a tremulous tone to; to trill.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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to shake a note in music
To threaten to overthrow.
Usage- Figurative
- Transitive
- Examples
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The experience shook my religious belief.
The story of Ms. He and her mother began in the early 1960s, shortly before the Cultural Revolution shook China.
To be agitated; to lose firmness.
Usage- Figurative
- Intransitive
Noun
The act of shaking or being shaken; tremulous or back-and-forth motion.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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The cat gave the mouse a shake.
She replied in the negative, with a shake of her head.
A twitch, a spasm, a tremor.
Usage- Countable
- plural-normally
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
And when the princely Perſean Diadem, Shall ouerweigh his wearie witleſſe head, And fall like mellowed fruit, with ſhakes of death, In faire Perſea noble Tamburlain Shall be my Regent, and remaine as King:
A dance popular in the 1960s in which the head, limbs, and body are shaken.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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The snake did the frug, the monkey did the shake. The crowd, mostly young couples, tourists and kids, loved it.
A milkshake.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A beverage made by adding ice cream to a (usually carbonated) drink; a float.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
Shake cannabis, small, leafy fragments of cannabis that gather at the bottom of a bag of marijuana.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
An adulterant added to cocaine powder.
Usage- US usage
- Slang
- Uncountable
- Examples
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[…] most suppliers will allow up to 120 grams of shake to a kilo, or 12 percent; kilo-level buyers are usually unhappy if they find more.
A crack or split between the growth rings in wood.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A fissure in rock or earth.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A type of wooden shingle originally made from split timber.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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There is a comet's tail of spilled cream across the cedar shakes and he will have to climb down for the turpentine.
Instant, second. (Especially in two shakes.)
Usage- Countable
- Informal
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
“And do you realize that in a few shakes I've got to show up at dinner and have Mrs Cream being very, very kind to me? It hurts the pride of the Woosters, Jeeves.”
One of the staves of a hogshead or barrel taken apart.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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Empty casks are[…]taken to pieces, and the staves closely packed up in a cylindrical form, constituting what are called shakes or packs
A rapid alternation of a principal tone with another represented on the next degree of the staff above or below it; a trill.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
In singing, notes (usually high ones) sung vibrato.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
A Signora Rossinuola, with the face of a goddess, and the voice of an angel, made her first curtsy that evening to the Neapolitans. She was received with the most rapturous applause. Nothing was heard of next day but her shake and her smile.
A shook of staves and headings.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
The redshank, so called from the nodding of its head while on the ground.
Usage- UK usage
- Countable
- dialectal
- Uncountable
A shock or disturbance.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
As long as I had seen Mr Holdsworth in the rooms at the little inn at Hensleydale, where I had been accustomed to look upon him as an invalid, I had not been aware of the visible shake his fever had given to his health.
An informal unit of time equal to 10 nanoseconds.
Usage- Countable
- Historical
- Uncountable
- Examples
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Most of the fission energy was released in the last few generations, so if the device blew itself apart before about fifty-seven shakes had elapsed, […]
Noun
building material used as siding or roofing
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
frothy drink of milk and flavoring and sometimes fruit or ice cream
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
a note that alternates rapidly with another note a semitone above it
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
grasping and shaking a person's hand (as to acknowledge an introduction or to agree on a contract)
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
a reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement
causing to move repeatedly from side to side
- Broader terms
Verb
move or cause to move back and forth
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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The chemist shook the flask vigorously
My hands were shaking
move with or as if with a tremor
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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his hands shook
shake or vibrate rapidly and intensively
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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The old engine was juddering
move back and forth or sideways
- Broader terms
- Examples
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the ship was rocking
the tall building swayed
More examples (1)
She rocked back and forth on her feet
undermine or cause to waver
- Broader terms
- Examples
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my faith has been shaken
The bad news shook her hopes
stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of
- Examples
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These stories shook the community
the civil war shook the country
get rid of
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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I couldn't shake the car that was following me
bring to a specified condition by or as if by shaking
- Examples
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He was shaken from his dreams
shake the salt out of the salt shaker
shake (a body part) to communicate a greeting, feeling, or cognitive state
- Broader terms
- Examples
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shake one's head
She shook her finger at the naughty students
More examples (2)
The old enemies shook hands
Don't shake your fist at me!