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shake

shake

4 8.3
A thin split piece of wood used to cover a roof or wall
  • noun
  • /ʃeɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : teja de madera
  • In this country, they roof their houses with shakes split from pure cedar.
  • cedar shakes
  • roof with shakes
  • shingles and shakes

Examples

  • Luke had described it, all built of peeled logs, roofed with hand-split shakes.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Now it was cedar shake.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The original shake siding remains on what is now an inside wall.

    Blog text (29)
  • Looking up, I saw the shake-roof shingles burning, shooting cinders like a million fireflies into the night sky.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Before noon, we were down in Brownie's, which is a dark old barn built of cedar planking and shakes.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The details of the Victorian house were perfect: tiny weathered cedar shakes on the roof and sides, porch steps that sagged slightly in the center, the veranda floor painted gray, and the railings white.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The cabin was beautifully finished with cedar shakes that enhanced its rustic charm.

  • Many homes in this area feature a lovely shake roof, providing both beauty and durability.

  • The skilled carpenter recommended using shakes for a natural look on the new patio cover.

Synonyms

shingle
vsshake
22 5.2

A thin flat piece of wood or slate used to cover a roof

is a split piece made from durable wood such as cedar

Idioms

to shake a leg
  • Archaic
9 6.5

To hurry when someone tells you to

3 4.6

To tremble a lot because you are afraid, nervous, or cold

A fair chance to take part or succeed

Make yourself stop worrying and start thinking clearly

To make people react to show hidden problems

To make ripe fruit or other things fall from a tree by moving its branches quickly

Leave a place after a bad experience and not return

Compounds

fair shake
  • Informal
16 6.0

An equal chance to succeed and be treated the same as others

15 4.3

A major change in how people run an organization

1 1.0

A sweet cold drink you get by mixing milk with ice cream or fruit

Surface Forms

shake singular
shakes plural

Etymology

Shake: The wooden tile called a shake is a very old word for a thin, split piece of wood used on roofs or walls, so a shake is literally a small 'piece' of wood for covering a house.