shaking down

verb

present participle of shake down
as in cheating
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shaking down This brainstorm is aimed at shaking down travel booking platforms. — Susan Shelley, Daily News, 13 May 2026 The city hired a second firm to represent Watts, as the city was legally responsible for covering legal judgments against him despite his federal prison sentence for shaking down a drug courier. — Joe Mahr, Chicago Tribune, 29 Mar. 2026 And that’s important, especially as players age, because teams like the Dolphins seize on shaking down injured, or underperforming talent. — Miami Herald, 26 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shaking down
  1. cheating
  2. squeezing
  3. stinging
  4. plucking
  5. hustling
  6. ripping off
  7. sticking
  8. beating
Verb
  • The Model 3 and Model Y adopted less elaborate press-and-pivot handles, helping give the cars their clean, wind-cheating profiles.
    — Peter Lyon, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
  • The British-Argentine actor’s point has less to do with her conflicted con artist cheating death numerous times and besting her mobster in-laws, as well as the FBI.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of cheating
Verb
  • That’s money competing directly against costs already squeezing this household.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The region is facing a housing shortage, with low stock and rising costs squeezing the market further.
    — P.R. Lockhart, Hartford Courant, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of squeezing
Verb
  • Battered fish and salt-and-vinegar-seasoned chips have been a staple for hundreds of years, best paired with stinging seaside winds and spray.
    — Will Barker, TheWeek, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Beneath Lamb’s unkempt appearance, crude manners, noxious flatulence, and stinging remarks lies one of the sharpest minds in MI5 and a man fiercely protective of his brood of misfits.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of stinging
Verb
  • The streamer has found its leading lady for the biopic, plucking an unknown first-timer to play the sertanejo icon.
    — Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Dramatic photos taken from the scene show a firefighter on a tower ladder plucking a panicked child from a fire escape.
    — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of plucking
Verb
  • Besides Instagram hustling and scouring job boards, entrepreneurial editors find gigs when creators call out for help.
    — Andrew Zucker, HollywoodReporter, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Devers, who finished with three hits, eschewed his power for small ball in the fifth, laying down a surprise bunt for a single, then hustling home on Susac’s sacrifice fly.
    — Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 31 July 2026
Definition of hustling
Verb
  • This isn’t the first time Musk has been accused of ripping off the smaller companies that helped build his business empire.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 5 Aug. 2026
  • James missed three games early in March, the Lakers ripping off wins against Indiana, New York and Minnesota without him.
    — Dan Woike, New York Times, 26 July 2026
Definition of ripping off
Verb
  • On the podcast, Sheridan acknowledged the Jimmy connection, while sticking in the nail in the coffin on the series.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2026
  • That could be felt in a few months time as less snow sticking the foothills.
    — Sean Macaday, Sacbee.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of sticking
Verb
  • Mizzou fans fumed about beating KU but playing in the lesser bowl.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Clark won a solid 56% of the vote in the Democratic primary, beating Blair and others, and Chavez ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
    — Irene Wright, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of beating

Browse Nearby Words

shaking a leg
shaking down
shaking (off)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shaking down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shaking%20down. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

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