shake 
* 
shaken, shake, ixchuke ; also weak pret. schrkwl, 
etc.), < AS. sceacan, scacan (pret. node, seede, pp. 
sceacen, scacen), shake, move, shift, flee, = OS. 
xkakan, move, flee, = Icel. xktika (pret. nkiik, 
pp. skekinii), shake, = Sw. skaka = Dan. skage, 
shift, veer; akin to D. schokken, LG. scliucl.i-n, 
MHG. tschockeii, shock (> ult. E. shock 1 ), G. 
schankeln, agitate, swing. Hence ult. shack 1 , 
shackle 2 , shock 1 , shog 1 , jog.~\ I. trans. 1. To 
cause to move with quick vibrations ; move or 
sway with a rapid jolting, jerking, or vibratory 
motion ; cause to tremble, quiver, or shiver ; 
agitate : as, to shake a carpet ; the wind shakes 
the trees ; the explosion shook the house ; to 
shake one's fist at another; to shake one's head 
as in displeasure or negation. 
With many a tempest hadde his herd ben shake. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 406. 
And as he was thus sayinge he shaked his heade, and 
made a wrie mouthe, and so he helde his peace. 
Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), i. 
Now the storm in its might would seize and shake the 
four corners of the roof, roaring like Leviathan, in anger. 
.fi. L. Steoenson, The Merry Men. 
2. To loosen, unfasten, remove, throw off or 
aside, expel, dispel, or get rid of, by a jolting, 
jerking, or abrupt vibrating action or motion, 
or by rough or vigorous measures: generally 
with away, down, off, out, up, etc. : as, to shake 
off drowsiness ; to shake out a reef in a sail; also, 
in colloquial use, absolutely : as, to shake a bore. 
And but I it had by other waye atte laste I stale it, 
Or pryuiliche his purse shake vnpiked his lokkes. 
Piers Plowman (B), xiii. 368. 
Shake off the golden slumber of repose. 
Shalt., Pericles, iii. 2. 23. 
Who is in evil once a companion 
Can hardly shake him o/, but must run on. 
Fletcher (and another), Queen of Corinth, iv. 4. 
When he came an hundred miles neerer, his terrible 
noyse shooke the teeth out of all the Roman heads. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 223. 
At the first reproof he shook off, at once and for ever, 
the practice of profane swearing, the worst if not the only 
sin to which he was ever addicted. 
Southey, Hum an, p. E4. 
3. To weaken or impair in any respect; make 
less firm, sure, certain, solid, stable, or coura- 
geous ; impair the standing, force, or character 
of; cause to waver or doubt: as, a searching 
cross-examination failed to shake the testimony 
of the witness. 
His fraud is then thy fear ; which plain infers 
Thy equal fear that my firm faith and love 
Can by his fraud be shaken or seduced. 
Milton, P. L., ix. 287. 
I would not shake my credit in telling an improbable 
truth. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, i. 11. 
But, though the belief in witchcraft might be shaken, it 
still had the advantage of being on the whole orthodox 
and respectable. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser. , p. 140. 
4. To agitate or disturb; rouse: sometimes 
with up. 
How he shook the King, 
Made his soul melt within him, and his blood 
Run into whey. Beau, and Ft., Philaster, i. 1. 
Sudden he starts, 
Shook from his tender trance. 
Thomson, Spring, 1. 102S. 
The coachman shook up his horses, and carried them 
along the side of the school close ... in a spanking trot. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, i. 5. 
5. To give a tremulous sound to; trill: as, to 
shake a note in music. 6. To steal. [Slang, 
Australia.] 
I got betting and drinking, . . . as young chaps will, and 
lost my place, and got from bad to worse till I shook a nag 
and got bowled out and lagged. 
H. Kingsley, Geoflry Hamlyn, xijt. 
To shake a cask, to knock off the hoops and pack toge- 
ther the staves and head of a cask. To Shake a foot or 
a leg, to dance. [Provincial and slang.] 
And I'd like to hear the pipers blow. 
And xhakr afut with Fanny there ! 
Thackeray, Mr. Molony's Account of the Ball. 
To shake a loose leg. See ley. To shake a vessel in 
the wind, to bring a ship's head so near the wind as to 
shiver the sails. To shake down or together, to shake 
into place ; compact by shaking. 
Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together. 
Luke vi. 38. 
To shake hands, (a) To greet or salute by grasping one 
another's hands ; hence, to shake hands with, figura- 
tively, to take leave of ; part with ; say good-by to. 
Shake hands with earth, and let your soul respect 
Her joys no farther than her joys reflect 
Upon her Maker's glory. 
Quarles, Emblems, iii., Entertainment. 
Nor can it be safe for a king to tarry among them who 
are shaking hands with their allegiance. Eikon BasiKke. 
(b) To come to an agreement ; agree fully : as, to shake 
hands over a bargain. 
5544 
When two such personages 
Shall meete together to shake hands in peace. 
Heywood, 2 Edw. IV. (Works, ed. Pearson, 1874, 1. 106). 
To shake off the dust from one's feet, to disclaim or 
renounce solemnly all intercourse or dealings with a per- 
son or a locality. 
And whosoever will not receive you, . . . shake off the 
very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. 
Luke ix. fi. 
To shake out a reef, to let it out and thereby enlarge a 
sail. To shake the bellst. See belli. To shake the 
elbow. See elbow. to shake the head, to move the 
head from side to side a movement expressing disap- 
probation, reluctance, dissent, refusal, negation, reproach, 
disappointment, or the like. 
When he shakes his head at any piece of public news, 
they all of them appear dejected. 
Steele, Spectator, No. 49. 
To shake up. (a) To restore to shape or proper condition 
by shaking : as, to shake up a pillow, (b) To shake or jar 
thoroughly or in such a way as to damage or impair ; shock : 
as, he was badly shaken up in the collision, (c) To up- 
braid ; berate. 
Adam. Yonder comes my master, your brother. 
Orl. Go apart, Adam, and thou shalt hear how he will 
shake me up. Shak., As you Like it, i. 1. 30. 
H. intrant. 1. To be agitated with a waving 
or vibratory motion ; tremble ; shiver ; quake : 
as, a tree shakes with the wind ; the house shook 
in the. tempest. 
But atte laste the statue of Venus shook 
And made a signe. 
Cliaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 1407. 
The foundations of the earth do shake. Isa. xxiv. 18. 
Under his burning wheels 
The steadfast empyrean shook throughout, 
All but the throne itself of God. 
Milton, P. L., vi. 833. 
2f. To fall ; jump. 
Out of the sadil he schok. Sir Perceval, 1. 604. 
3f. To go quickly; hasten. 
Golde and oper goodes gripe it by dene, 
And shote into our shippes, shake on our way. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3178. 
4. In music, to use shakes or trills ; perform a 
shake or trill ; trill. 
Bedford, to hear her song, his dice forsakes, 
And Nottingham is raptur'd when she shakes: 
Lull il statesmen melt away their drowsy cares 
Of England's safety in Italian Airs. 
Hughes, Tofts and Margaretta. 
A minstrel's fire within me burned ; 
I'd sing, as one whose heart must break, 
Lay upon lay ; I nearly learned 
To shake. C. S. Calverley, Changed. 
5. To steal. [Slang, Australia.] 6. To shake 
hands: usually in the imperative: as, shake, 
stranger. [Colloq., western U. S.] Shaklngpal- 
sy, paralysis agitans (which see, under paralysis). Shak- 
ing prairie. See trembling prairie, under tremble. To 
shake down, to betake one's self to a shake-down ; to 
occupy an improvised bed. [Colloq.] 
An eligible apartment in which some five or six of us 
shook down for the night, and resigned ourselves to the 
musquitoes and to slumber. 
W. H. Russell, Diary in India, 1. 40. 
To Shake together, to come to be on good terms ; get 
along smoothly together ; adapt one's self to another's 
habits, way of working, etc. [Colloq.] 
The rest of the men had shaken well together. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, I. xi. 
To shake up. Same as to shake together. 
I can't shake up along with the rest of you. ... I am 
used to hard lines and a wild country. 
W. Collins, Hide and Seek, U. 1. 
= Syn. 1. Swing, Roll, etc. See roc*2. 
shake (shak), . [< ME. schak; < sliake, r.] 1. 
A rapid jolt or jerk one way and then the other ; 
an abrupt wavering or vibrating motion : as, 
give it a shake; a shake of the head. 
Your pencil rivals the dramatic art of Mr. Puff in the 
Critic, who crammed a whole complicated sentence into 
the expressive shake of Lord Burleigh's head. 
Scott, Bride of Lammermoor, i. 
2. A shock or concussion ; especially, a shock 
that disarranges or impairs; rude or violent 
attack or treatment. 
The great soldier's honour was composed 
Of thicker stuff, which could endure a shake. 
G. Herbert, The Church Porch. 
His brain has undergone an unlucky shake. 
Swift, Tale of a Tub, ix. 
3. A tremor; a quaver; a shiver. 
"Tis he ; I am caught ; I must stand to it stoutly, 
And shew no shake of fear. Fletcher, Rule a Wife, iv. 1. 
But Hepzibah could not rid herself of the sense of some- 
thing unprecedented at that instant passing, and soon to 
be accomplished. Her nerves were in a shake. 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, xvi. 
4. A trembling-fit ; a chill ; specifically, in the 
plural and with the definite article, the shakes, 
ague; intermittent fever; also, delirium tre- 
mens. [Colloq.] 5. In music, a melodic embel- 
lishment consisting of the rapid alternation of a 
principal tone with a tone one degree above it ; 
shaker 
a trill : indicated by the mark tr., with or with- 
out the sign -w. According to modern usage, the prin- 
cipal tone is sounded first, and receivesthe accent through- 
out; but in old music the reverse was the case. If the 
subsidiary tone is chromatically altered, this is indicated 
by a sharp or a flat added to the sign of the shake. A shake 
is usually concluded with a turn, and often preceded by 
a prefix of one or more tones ; in the latter case it is said 
to be prepared. A shake occurring in two or three voice- 
parts at once is called double or triple. A succession of 
shakes is called a chain. A shake inserted in the midst of 
a rapid or flowing melody is called passing. 
6. A brief moment; an instant: as, to do a 
thing in a couple or brace of shakes, or in the 
shake of a lamb's tail (that is, to do it imme- 
diately). [Slang.] 
ITi be back in a couple of shakes, 
So don't, dears, be quivering and quaking. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 166. 
Now Dragon [a mastiff] could kill a wolf in a brace of 
shakes. C. Keade, Cloister and Hearth, xciii. (Davies.) 
7. A crack or fissure in timber, produced dur- 
ing growth by strain of wind, sudden changes 
of temperature, or causes not well determined, 
or formed during seasoning. Nearly all exogenous 
woods are in some degree subject to this defect, which 
appears in several forms. Heart-shake is a fissure through 
the center or pith, slight or serious, in its simplest form 
running the length of the trunk in one plane, in some 
specimens twisted. Another cleft may cross at right 
angles. Star-shake consists of radial fissures, sometimes 
even reaching the circumference. Cup-shake consists of 
clefts between the concentric layers, occurring most often 
near the root All these shakes are commonly called 
wind-shakes. 
It [the teak] shrinks very little in seasoning, and has 
no shakes upon the outer surface of the log. 
Laslett, Timber, p. 113. 
8. A fissure in the earth. [Prov. Eng.] 9. 
A long shingle or stave : same as clapboard, 2. 
10. In printing, a blurred or doubled print 
made by a shaking or moving of the sheet un- 
der impression. [Eng.] 11. The redshank, 
Totanus calidris: so called from its constant 
nodding or bobbing of the body. See cut under 
redshank. C. Swain/ion. [Connemara, Ireland.] 
Great shakes, literally, a thing of great account; some- 
thing extraordinary ; something of value or worth : usu- 
ally in the negative. [Slang.] 
I had my hands full, and my head too, just then, so it 
["Marino Faliero"] can be no great shakes. I mean the 
play. Byron, To Murray, Sept. 28, 1820. 
It were th' Queen's drawing-room, they said, and th' 
carriages went bowling along toward her house, some wi' 
dressed up gentlemen ... in 'em, and rucks o' ladies in 
others. Carriages themselves were great shakes too. 
Mrs. Gaskell, Mary Barton, ix. 
shake-bag (shak'bag), . [< shake, v., + obj. 
bag 1 .'] A large-sized game-cock. Halliwell. 
Wit. Will you go to a cock-match? 
SirWil. With a wench, Tony? la she A shake-bag, sirrah? 
Congreve, Way of the World, iv. 11. 
Shake-bucklert (shak'buk"ler), . [< shake, v., 
+ obj. buckler.'] A swaggerer ; a swashbuck- 
ler; a bully. 
Let the parents ... by no means suffer them to live 
idly, nor to be of the number of such Sim Shake-bucklers 
as in their young years fall unto serving, and in their old 
years fall into beggary. Beeon, Works, II. 355. (Dailies.) 
shake-down (shak'doun), n. A temporary bed 
made by shaking down or spreading hay, 
rushes, or the like, or also quilts or a mattress, 
with coverings, on the floor, on a table, etc. 
[Colloq.] 
I would not choose to put more on the fioor than two 
beds, and one shake-down, which will answer for five. 
Miss Edgeworth, Rose, Thistle, and Shamrock, i. 3. 
In the better lodging-houses the shake-downs are small 
palliasses or mattresses ; in the worst, they are bundles of 
rags of any kind ; but loose straw is used only in the coun- 
try for shake-downs. 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I. 272. 
shake-fork (shak'fdrk), n. [Also dial, sliaek- 
fork; < shake + for A'.] A fork with which to 
toss hay about; in her., a bear- 
ing resembling the pall, but not 
reaching the edges of the es- 
cutcheon: the three extremities 
are usually pointed bluntly. 
shaken (sha'kn), p. a. 1. Im- 
paired; weakened; disordered; 
undermined: as, one shaken in 
health. 
Be mov'd with pitty at the afflicted state of this oar shaken 
Monarchy, that now lies labouring under her throwes. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng., ii. 
2. Cracked or split: as, shaken timber. 
Nor is the wood shaken nor twisted, as those about Cape 
Town. Barrow, Travels. 
shaker (sha'ker), n. [< shake, v., + -er 1 .] 1. 
One who or that which shakes. 
Thou Earth's drad Shaker (at whose only Word 
Th' Eoliau Scouts are quickly still'd and stirr'd), 
Lift vp my soule. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 1. 
