shake

SHAKE, verb transitive preterit tense shook; participle passive shaken. 1. To cause to move with quick vibrations; to move rapidly one way and the other; to agitate; as, the wind shakes a tree; an earthquake shakes the hills or the earth. I shook my lap, and said, so God shake out every man from his house- Nehemiah 5:13 He shook the sacred honors of his head. Dryden. -As a fig casteth her untimely fruit, when it is shaken of a mighty wind. Revelation 6:1. 2. To make to totter or tremble. The rapid wheels shake the heav'n's basis. Milton. 3. To cause to shiver; as, an ague shakes the whole frame. 4. To throw down by a violent motion. Macbeth is ripe for shaking. Shak. [But see shake off, which is generally used.] 5. To throw away; to drive off. 'Tis our first intent To shake all cares and business from our age. [See Shake off.] Shak. 6. To move from firmness; to weaken the stability of; to endanger; to threaten to overthrow. Nothing should shake our belief in the being and perfections of God, and in our own accountableness. 7. To cause to waver or doubt; to impair the resolution of; to depress the courage of. That ye be not soon shaken in mind. 2 Thessalonians 2:1. 8. To trill; as, to shake a note in music. To shake hands, sometimes, to unite with; to aggree or contract with; more generally, to take leave of, from the practice of shaking hands at meeting and parting. To shake off, to drive off; to throw off or down by violence; as, to shake off the dust of the feet; also, to rid one's self; to free from; to divest of; as, to shake off disease or grief; to shake off troublesome dependents. SHAKE, verb intransitive 1. To be agitated with a waving or vibratory motion; as, the tree shakes with the wind; the house shakes in a tempest. The foundations of the earth do shake. Isaiah 24:18. 2. To tremble; to shiver; to quake; as, a man shakes in an ague; or he shakes with cold, or with terror. 3. To totter. Under his burning wheels The steadfast empyrean shook throught, All but the throne itself of God. Milton. SHAKE, noun 1. Concussion; a vacillating or wavering motion; a rapid motion one way and the other; agitation. The great soldier's honor was composed of thicker stuff which could endure a shake. Herbert. 2. A trembling or shivering; agitation. 3. A motion of hands clasped. Our salutations were very hearty on both sides, consisting of many kind shakes of the hand. Addison. 4. In music, a trill; a rapid reiteration of two notes comprehending an interval not greater than one whole tone, nor less than a semitone.