as in cheated
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
the rumor is that he started his career shaking people down as an enforcer for the mob
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Recent Examples of shaken down
Law firms are shaken down into submission.
—
Christopher Bouzy, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
Christopher Bouzy, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shaken down
Verb
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The reportedly yearlong relationship is notable in that, after their split in 2015, Stocking posted and deleted tweets saying the basketball player cheated, per The New York Post.—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA Today,
27 Apr. 2026
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This is the same team that cheated and got caught how many times, going back to Bill Belichick and golden boy Tom Brady (Deflategate)?—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Meanwhile, American families are getting squeezed by high gas prices, unaffordable housing, soaring grocery bills and out-of-touch politicians who are more focused on woke ideology than on real solutions.—
Lucas Robinson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 May 2026
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Geneva coach Brad Wendell knew that Kastor’s slow start last season squeezed him out of the lineup.—
Paul Johnson,
Chicago Tribune,
8 May 2026
Verb
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There’s no trace of anything strummed or plucked; clusters of tone simply materialize out of thin air, as capricious as weather.—
Philip Sherburne,
Pitchfork,
6 May 2026
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He’s plucked employees from companies like Uber, Google, and Facebook to professionalize the place.—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
6 May 2026
Verb
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Otherwise, the what-if blues would’ve stung a lot longer.—
Tom Krasovic,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 Apr. 2026
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The Nuggets have lost plenty of playoff games the past two springs, but few have stung like this.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Instead, Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Battle of Puebla, when the Mexican Army beat the Second French Empire, led by Napoleon III, on May 5, 1862, according to USA TODAY's previous reporting.—
Julia Gomez,
USA Today,
4 May 2026
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Today’s social media tradwives have resurrected Beecher and Child’s blueprint almost beat for beat.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 May 2026
Verb
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The model Nugent and colleagues have homed in on for LFBOTs is the collision of a compact stellar remnant with the leftover helium core from a massive star that has had its outer hydrogen envelope ripped off — a Wolf-Rayet star.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
8 May 2026
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Salinas also confirmed he was ripped off by Astor Asset Group in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last year.—
Dave Collins,
Los Angeles Times,
6 May 2026
Verb
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With Venus in Gemini aligning with Pluto in Aquarius, honest conversations help shift situations that have been stuck.—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
28 Apr. 2026
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But as OutKick’s Joe Kinsey noted, the platform would often combine WNBA and NFL games, leaving subscribers stuck watching both.—
Bobby Burack OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In addition, many of San Diego’s trolley stops are in the South Bay and southeastern San Diego neighborhoods where the city has done significantly less upzoning in recent years — and where much of the land is zoned for single-family housing.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 May 2026
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But the conflict hasn’t done much damage to the American job market so far.—
Paul Wiseman,
Los Angeles Times,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shaken down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shaken%20down. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
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