English Meaning & Definitions
An act of extortion, especially by blackmail, threats, or abuse of authority.
- “The local gang ran a protection racket, demanding a weekly shakedown from small business owners.”
- “He realized the demand for hush money was just the beginning of a long shakedown.”
A thorough search of a person or place, especially to locate contraband in a prison.
- “The guards conducted a surprise shakedown of the cell block to look for weapons.”
- “The police officer performed a quick shakedown of the suspect before putting him in the patrol car.”
A trial journey or testing period designed to test the performance of a new vessel, vehicle, or system.
- “The new submarine underwent a three-week shakedown cruise in the Atlantic.”
- “The software is currently in its shakedown phase to identify any remaining bugs.”
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “shakedown”.
Originally referring to a makeshift bed made by shaking down straw or feathers in the 18th century. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the term evolved in American slang to mean a thorough search (as if shaking someone down to empty their pockets) or the extortion of money. It also came to denote a trial cruise or flight to test a new vessel's performance (a 'shakedown cruise'), where components are literally and figuratively shaken into place.
Think of physically shaking someone upside down until all their money falls out of their pockets—this represents extortion or a thorough search.
Frequently Asked Questions About “shakedown”
1. What is the meaning of “shakedown” in English?
In English, shakedown (noun) is defined as: “An act of extortion, especially by blackmail, threats, or abuse of authority.”.
2. How do you use “shakedown” in a sentence?
“The local gang ran a protection racket, demanding a weekly shakedown from small business owners.”
3. What are English synonyms of “shakedown”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “shakedown”?
Originally referring to a makeshift bed made by shaking down straw or feathers in the 18th century. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the term evolved in American slang to mean a thorough search (as if shaking someone down to empty their pockets) or the extortion of money. It also came to denote a trial cruise or flight to test a new vessel's performance (a 'shakedown cruise'), where components are literally and figuratively shaken into place.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →A measurement of time indicating an instantaneous occurrence or a state where no time has elapsed.
The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.