shake

Meaning

Verb

1. (ergative, transitive) To cause (something) to move rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly.
2. (transitive) To move (one's head) from side to side, especially to indicate refusal, reluctance, or disapproval.
3. (transitive) To move or remove by agitating; to throw off by a jolting or vibrating motion.
4. (transitive) To disturb emotionally; to shock.
5. (idiomatic, transitive) To lose, evade, or get rid of (something).
6. (intransitive) To move from side to side.
7. (intransitive, usually) To shake hands.
8. (intransitive) To dance.
9. (transitive) To give a tremulous tone to; to trill.
10. (figuratively, transitive) To threaten to overthrow.
11. (figuratively, intransitive) To be agitated; to lose firmness.

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) The act of shaking or being shaken; tremulous or back-and-forth motion.
2. (countable, plural-normally, uncountable) A twitch, a spasm, a tremor.
3. (countable, uncountable) A dance popular in the 1960s in which the head, limbs, and body are shaken.
4. (countable, uncountable) A milkshake.
5. (countable, uncountable) A beverage made by adding ice cream to a (usually carbonated) drink; a float.
6. (countable, uncountable) Shake cannabis, small, leafy fragments of cannabis that gather at the bottom of a bag of marijuana.
7. (US, slang, uncountable) An adulterant added to cocaine powder.
8. (countable, uncountable) A thin shingle.
9. (countable, uncountable) A crack or split between the growth rings in wood.
10. (countable, uncountable) A fissure in rock or earth.
11. (countable, uncountable) A basic wooden shingle made from split logs, traditionally used for roofing etc.
12. (countable, informal, uncountable) Instant, second. (Especially in two shakes.)
13. (countable, uncountable) One of the staves of a hogshead or barrel taken apart.
14. (countable, uncountable) A rapid alternation of a principal tone with another represented on the next degree of the staff above or below it; a trill.
15. (countable, uncountable) In singing, notes (usually high ones) sung vibrato.
16. (countable, uncountable) A shook of staves and headings.
17. (UK, countable, dialectal, uncountable) The redshank, so called from the nodding of its head while on the ground.
18. (countable, uncountable) A shock or disturbance.
19. (countable, historical, uncountable) An informal unit of time equal to 10 nanoseconds.

Synonyms

tremble

shiver

rock

🪨

sway

quiver

move

swing

quake

wave

👋

vibrate

jolt

shudder

stir

agitate

wobble

wag

shock

⚡

stagger

rattle

jar

🫙

oscillate

shake up

wiggle

brandish

toss

waggle

joggle

shaking

🫨

tremor

trill

waver

totter

jiggle

bump

flutter

nod

jerk

beat

quaver

excite

disturb

convulse

vibration

cause to tremble

roll

shake off

handshake

🤝

sift

upset

jounce

Translations

secouer

sacudir

schütteln

trembler

scuotere

agitar

schudden

temblar

agiter

zittern

erschüttern

tremare

ébranler

agitare

rütteln

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈʃeɪk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: schaken

Inherited from Old English: sċeacan

Cognate with Scots: schake

Cognate with Western Frisian: schaekje

Cognate with Dutch: schaken

Cognate with Low German: schaken

Cognate with Old Norse: skaka

Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk: skaka

Cognate with Swedish: skaka

Cognate with Danish: skage

Cognate with Dutch: schokken

Cognate with Russian: скака́ть

In summary

From Middle English schaken, from Old English sċeacan, sċacan (“to shake”), from Proto-West Germanic *skakan, from Proto-Germanic *skakaną (“to shake, swing, escape”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keg-, *(s)kek- (“to jump, move”).
Cognate with Scots schake, schack (“to shake”), West Frisian schaekje (“to shake”), Dutch schaken (“to elope, make clean, shake”), Low German schaken (“to move, shift, push, shake”) and schacken (“to shake, shock”), Old Norse skaka (“to shake”), Norwegian Nynorsk skaka (“to shake”), Swedish skaka (“to shake”), Danish skage (“to shake”), Dutch schokken (“to shake, shock”), Russian скака́ть (skakátʹ, “to jump”). More at shock.

Sentences

I haven't been able to shake him since .