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🤲 To tremble 💃 To shake body 🎷 A dance 🚗 A car shake 👗 A slip
to shimmy

to shimmy

12 7.4
To shake slightly with quick movements
  • verb
  • /ˈʃɪmi/
: temblar
  • So they tie a couple of fuel hoses and they shimmy down and we set out walking.
  • start to shimmy
  • shake and shimmy
  • wheel shimmied

Even though we're out of the clouds, we were still shimmying.

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Examples

  • The children giggled as they watched the puppy shimmy in excitement when it saw its owner.

  • The dancer began to shimmy across the stage, captivating the audience with her movements.

  • All right, let me just shimmy down.

    The Hangover Part III (2013)

  • The rear of the Jeep started to shimmy violently.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The carousel begins to spin out of control, shimmying and shaking.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The cat shimmied up the tree and crept stealthily out on the limb...

    Fiction book (1994)

  • You have to shimmy up beams—pull yourself up onto them—with just your own strength.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • As the car hit a bump, the tires started to shimmy and vibrate uncontrollably.

Synonyms

to shake
vsto shimmy
750 1.0

To move quickly from side to side or up and down

is a slight quick tremble rather than a broad forceful motion
to shaking
vsto shimmy
213 1.0

To move quickly back and forth or up and down, making things tremble

is a quick slight tremble rather than the general act of moving strongly
to tremble
vsto shimmy
144 2.5

To shake slightly without control because of fear, cold, or worry

is a quick slight movement not necessarily involuntary or emotional
to vibrate
vsto shimmy
104 2.8

To make very small, quick moves back and forth

is a short slight tremble rather than a continuous vibrating motion
to wiggle
vsto shimmy
77 1.0

To move with small, quick movements from side to side or up and down

is a quick slight trembling motion rather than directed side to side movement
to quiver
vsto shimmy
50 4.5

To shake in small, quick movements because of fear, cold, or excitement

has the same meaning but differs only in wording
to wag
vsto shimmy
44 1.4

To move quickly from side to side or up and down again and again

is a slight quick tremble rather than an energetic repeated movement
to wobble
vsto shimmy
40 3.8

To move or shake unsteadily from side to side

is a quick slight tremble not an irregular unsteady motion
to waver
vsto shimmy
18 4.8

To move or shake in a slight, unsteady way

is a quick slight tremble rather than a slower unsteady sway
to jitter
vsto shimmy
3 4.6

To shake or move quickly because you are nervous

is a quick slight tremble without the implied nervous jerky quality
to joggle
vsto shimmy
1 7.7

To move something lightly and repeatedly so it shakes

is a bodily quick slight tremble rather than moving objects lightly
to wabble
vsto shimmy
1 8.9

To move unsteadily from side to side

is a quick slight tremble rather than irregular unsteady movement

Phrasal Verbs

to shimmy on down
  • Informal
9.1

To move or dance quickly toward a place

How Much

to shake
750 1.0
to jerk
98 2.0
tremble
6 2.7
to shimmy
12 7.4
to quiver
50 4.5

Surface Forms

shimmy infinitive
shimmed past
shimmed past participle
shimming present participle
shimmies third person singular

Etymology

Shimmy meaning 'to tremble slightly' comes from the same image of a small shake, like shake, so it describes a quick, light movement or wobble.