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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shaking down
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
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
Verb
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Fred, their oldest surviving child, was suspended from Princeton for cheating, then caught embezzling from his Seattle employer to feed, Church suspected, a gambling habit.—
Sebastian Smee,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
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Court documents state the Matthews were there to get the children after a fight between Ashley and Pouncey over cheating.—
Meredith Colias-Pete,
Chicago Tribune,
3 May 2026
Verb
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Gas prices, housing costs and groceries are squeezing people who are working hard yet still falling behind.—
Lucas Robinson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 May 2026
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Prices for everything are higher, squeezing already tight budgets to the breaking point, with no end in sight.—
The Virginian Pilot And Daily Press Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
3 May 2026
Verb
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Captain Ethan Ampadu is one of the survivors of that stinging 2024 play-off final defeat.—
Beren Cross,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
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Trump was the butt of several stinging jokes made by both President Barack Obama and comedian Seth Meyers.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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For some, working with soil evokes nostalgia for childhood summers, smelling thorny roses in bloom and plucking ripe tomatoes off the vine.—
Nicole Kliest,
Vogue,
20 Apr. 2026
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Brawley hires football coach After a months-long search, Brawley High School has hired a football coach, plucking Rick Stewart away from Calipatria.—
John Maffei,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Over the past few years, Google has been hustling to reinvent its business for the AI age, trying to keep consumers in the habit of going to its search page as chatbots from startups such as OpenAI and Anthropic become more popular.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
29 Apr. 2026
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An agent is seen grabbing Vance by his jacket and hustling him off stage.—
Bill Hutchinson,
ABC News,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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There’s little risk of Amodei pulling a Zaslav and ripping off Carter’s wardrobe.—
Julian Sancton,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Apr. 2026
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Franchise removal more typically comes like ripping off a bandage.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
19 Apr. 2026
Verb
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At one point, Davies can be seen sticking her head out of the open window and waving to park officials below.—
Natalia Senanayake,
PEOPLE,
24 Apr. 2026
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For most of her first two seasons, the league treated her like just another player, sticking her on the back of posters and leaving her out of promos.—
Bobby Burack OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The sun was beating down on me.—
Jennifer Wilson,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
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The Wild’s penalty-killers pounced, starting a rush the other way that ended with Marcus Foligno beating Scott Wedgewood for a 5-4 Wild lead — Minnesota’s third straight goal and its third of the period.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
4 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shaking down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shaking%20down. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
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