to shake

Examples

• All

• I once had the honor to shake his hand in Damascus.

  Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

• Then the service is over, and we go out, and everyone shakes our hands and congratulates us.

  Academic text (1995)

• And you you shake your head and think, where do these people come from?

• -I know who you are, -and I do not want to shake your hand.

  Material (2012)

• Dude, I miss shaking people's hands, man.

  Theo Von Clips

• And when I told him this, he kind of looked away and shook his head.

  Robinson Erhardt

• Shake hands with Cass Wheeler.

  Laughing Sinners (1931)

• During our five-hour demonstration, some people shook our hands or gave us a "thumbs up."

  Academic text (2000)

• When you see a friend after a long time, it's common to shake their hand warmly.

• He decided to shake his head in disagreement when she proposed the plan.

Synonyms

W

to wave

vsto shake

517 1.0

To move your hand back and forth to greet or get attention

is a general body movement to show greeting or feeling

S

to shake hands

vsto shake

292 1.0

To take someone's hand and move it up and down as a greeting or to show agreement

is a simple body motion used alone or without physical contact

G

to gesticulate

vsto shake

5 7.6

Move hands or arms when speaking to show an idea

is used mainly to communicate greeting or emotion rather than emphasize speech

Idioms

S

to shake a leg

• Archaic

3 6.5

To hurry when someone tells you to

S

to shake like a leaf

• Informal

2 4.6

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

F

fair shake of the sauce bottle

• Australian

9.9

A fair chance to take part or succeed

G

to give one's head a shake

• Informal

8.6

Make yourself stop worrying and start thinking clearly

S

to shake the pagoda tree

• Informal

9.9

To make people react to show hidden problems

S

to shake the plum tree

8.7

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

S

to shake off the dust from one's feet

• Literature

9.8

Leave a place after a bad experience and not return

Phrasal Verbs

S

to shake hands

292 1.0

To take someone's hand and move it up and down as a greeting or to show agreement

S

to shake up

• Informal

95 4.3

To change how a group or system is arranged to make it work better

S

to shake up

81 4.2

To upset someone strongly and change how they feel

S

to shake off

80 3.6

Make something unwanted go away, like an illness, a feeling, or a person following you

S

to shake things up

• Informal

28 4.2

Make big changes to try to create excitement or improvement

S

to shake out

19 2.9

Remove dust and crumbs by shaking something

S

to shake up

11 3.5

To move something quickly so it becomes fluffier or looser

S

to shake on

9 3.9

Agree to a deal by holding and moving someone's hand

S

to shake off the dust

• Informal

1 6.4

To leave past problems behind and start again

S

to shake out the rug

1 2.0

To clean a rug by lifting it and beating dust and crumbs out

S

to shake out the wrinkle

1 3.0

Remove small folds from clothes by shaking them

S

to shake one's head

1 1.9

Move your head from side to side to show you do not agree

S

to shake hands

• Specialized

1 5.8

To exchange messages between two systems to start a secure connection and agree on security keys

Compounds

M

milk shake

20 1.0

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

F

fair shake

• Informal

17 6.0

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

S

shake-up

15 4.3

A major change in how people run an organization

How Vigorous

to shake

624 1.0

wave

54 1.0

to wag

44 1.4

to flick

78 2.3

to twitch

79 2.8

Surface Forms

Etymology