shake

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   undermine or cause to waver

   my faith has been shaken

2. 2
   verb

   bring to a specified condition by or as if by shaking

   I was shaken from my dreams by an earthquake.

3. 3
   verb

   shake (a body part) to communicate a greeting, feeling, or cognitive state

   shake one's head

4. 4
   verb

   get rid of

   I couldn't shake the car that was following me

5. 5
   verb

   To cause (something) to move rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly.

   The earthquake shook the building.

6. 6
   verb

   To move (one's head) from side to side, especially to indicate refusal, reluctance, or disapproval.

   Shaking his head, he kept repeating “No, no, no”.

7. 7
   verb

   To move or remove by agitating; to throw off by a jolting or vibrating motion.

   to shake fruit down from a tree

8. 8
   verb

   To disturb emotionally; to shock.

   Her father’s death shook her terribly.

Etymology

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, sho…