shake
move or cause to move back and forth
How often you will meet it
Rank 1,865 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 9,665 times across 175,177 chapters — 0.005% of every word in the library.
What it means
verb
- move or cause to move back and forth also: agitate The chemist shook the flask vigorouslyMy hands were shaking
- move with or as if with a tremor also: didder his hands shook
- shake or vibrate rapidly and intensively also: judder The old engine was juddering
- move back and forth or sideways also: rock, sway the ship was rockingthe tall building swayed
- undermine or cause to waver my faith has been shakenThe bad news shook her hopes
- stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of also: stimulate, shake up, excite, stir These stories shook the communitythe civil war shook the country
shake in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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If cynic minds you scarce convert, You try them, shake them, or molest.
John Marr and Other Poems · Herman Melville · Chapter 1
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I said nothing, but it was a long time before my limbs ceased to shake.
The Betrayal · E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim · Chapter 1
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Like him, she would shake her clinched fists in the vacant space; exclaiming, “Coward, tyrant, assassin!”
Other People's Money · Emile Gaboriau · Chapter 1
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She stamped three times on the ground, and the earth trembled, and both the church and the monk began to shake.
The Yellow Fairy Book: The Grateful Beasts · World Traditions (Celtic, Norse, Asian & Persian) · Chapter 1
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John had not the heart to shake off the frail delicate child, who was christened "Fluff" after his first appearance in public.
The Hill: A Romance of Friendship · Horace Annesley Vachell · Chapter 1