: an act or instance of shaking up
specifically
: an extensive and often drastic reorganization
shook up; shaken up; shaking up; shakes up
2
: to jar by or as if by a physical shock
the collision shook up both drivers
3
: to effect an extensive and often drastic reorganization of
Examples of shake-up in a Sentence
Verb
the news that we had failed the auto inspection shook us up
Recent Examples on the Web
Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2025
The confirmation of his return — along with favorites including Colin Jost, Michael Che and Chloe Fineman — came amid shake-ups at the show.
—Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025
Gene Marks, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
The Chargers even scored when Chee left the game after being shaken up.
—Martin Henderson, Oc Register, 13 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shake-up
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Noun
But there was more scrutiny than usual on this year's departures after Michaels teased a shake-up in an interview with Puck published in August.
—Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2025
The confirmation of his return — along with favorites including Colin Jost, Michael Che and Chloe Fineman — came amid shake-ups at the show.
—Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
Small Business Technology News #3 – AI shakes up the call center industry, but some tasks are still better left to the humans.
—Gene Marks, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
The Chargers even scored when Chee left the game after being shaken up.
—Martin Henderson, Oc Register, 13 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shake-up
Cite this Entry
“Shake-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shake-up. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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