n. 1. The act or result of shaking; a vacillating or wavering motion; a rapid motion one way and other; a trembling, quaking, or shivering; agitation. [ 1913 Webster ]

The great soldier's honor was composed
Of thicker stuff, which could endure a shake. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our salutations were very hearty on both sides, consisting of many kind shakes of the hand. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A fissure or crack in timber, caused by its being dried too suddenly. Gwilt. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A fissure in rock or earth. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mus.) A rapid alternation of a principal tone with another represented on the next degree of the staff above or below it; a trill. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Naut.) One of the staves of a hogshead or barrel taken apart. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A shook of staves and headings. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Zool.) The redshank; -- so called from the nodding of its head while on the ground. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

No great shakes, of no great importance. [ Slang ] Byron. --
The shakes, the fever and ague. [ Colloq. U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. Shook p. p. Shaken (Shook, obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Shaking. ] [ OE. shaken, schaken, AS. scacan, sceacan; akin to Icel. & Sw. skaka, OS. skakan, to depart, to flee. √161. Cf. Shock, v. ] 1. To cause to move with quick or violent vibrations; to move rapidly one way and the other; to make to tremble or shiver; to agitate. [ 1913 Webster ]

As a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. Rev. vi. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ascend my chariot; guide the rapid wheels
That shake heaven's basis. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: To move from firmness; to weaken the stability of; to cause to waver; to impair the resolution of. [ 1913 Webster ]

When his doctrines grew too strong to be shook by his enemies, they persecuted his reputation. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thy equal fear that my firm faith and love
Can by his fraud be shaken or seduced. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mus.) To give a tremulous tone to; to trill; as, to shake a note in music. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To move or remove by agitating; to throw off by a jolting or vibrating motion; to rid one's self of; -- generally with an adverb, as off, out, etc.; as, to shake fruit down from a tree. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shake off the golden slumber of repose. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

'Tis our fast intent
To shake all cares and business from our age. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

I could scarcely shake him out of my company. Bunyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

To shake a cask (Naut.), to knock a cask to pieces and pack the staves. --
To shake hands, to perform the customary act of civility by clasping and moving hands, as an expression of greeting, farewell, good will, agreement, etc. --
To shake out a reef (Naut.), to untile the reef points and spread more canvas. --
To shake the bells. See under Bell. --
To shake the sails (Naut.), to luff up in the wind, causing the sails to shiver. Ham. Nav. Encyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

obs. p. p. of Shake. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be agitated with a waving or vibratory motion; to tremble; to shiver; to quake; to totter. [ 1913 Webster ]

Under his burning wheels
The steadfast empyrean shook throughout,
All but the throne itself of God. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

What danger? Who 's that that shakes behind there? Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shaking piece, a name given by butchers to the piece of beef cut from the under side of the neck. See Illust. of Beef. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A temporary substitute for a bed, as one made on the floor or on chairs; -- perhaps originally from the shaking down of straw for this purpose. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

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n. A fork for shaking hay; a pitchfork. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Caused to shake; agitated; as, a shaken bough. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Cracked or checked; split. See Shake, n., 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nor is the wood shaken or twisted. Barroe. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Impaired, as by a shock. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A person or thing that shakes, or by means of which something is shaken. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of a religious sect who do not marry, popularly so called from the movements of the members in dancing, which forms a part of their worship. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The sect originated in England in 1747, and came to the United States in 1774, under the leadership of Mother Ann Lee. The Shakers are sometimes nicknamed Shaking Quakers, but they differ from the Quakers in doctrine and practice. They style themselves the “United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing.” The sect is now confined in the United States. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A variety of pigeon. P. J. Selby. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A female Shaker. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Doctrines of the Shakers. [ 1913 Webster ]