shimmying

verb

present participle of shimmy
1
as in clambering

Related Words

Relevance
2
as in bopping

Related Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shimmying
  1. clambering
  2. bopping
  3. swarming
  4. shuffling
  5. scrambling
  6. jigging
  7. scrabbling
  8. jiving
Verb
  • Commercial satellite operators are already clambering to claim space on Falcon 9s as the final sales are made.
    — Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Sometimes only the tips of the reeds and the seed heads were visible, poking above the murky water, and other times the reeds stood fully exposed, with a clear view of crabs clambering around their bases.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of clambering
Verb
  • Fox, the actress-model-memoirist best known for Uncut Gems, and Shazam, the model-photographer-director, first met at a party as teens and have been bopping around lower Manhattan ever since.
    — Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Around me, in the nosebleeds, were a mix of children in big friend groups and softly bopping couples.
    — Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of bopping
Verb
  • Below, Edwards could see park staff and paramedics swarming the ride’s entrance.
    — Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Reese and Canada have helped the team win all four of the Dream’s playoff games, leading a swarming defense.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of swarming
Verb
  • Green tea was served by gang members shuffling around in slippers.
    — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Ivey and his partner persuaded the Crockfords dealer to rotate the high-value cards 180 degrees before shuffling them back into the pack, citing some obscure superstition as justification.
    — Kit Chellel, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of shuffling
Verb
  • With the presidential elections approaching next April, political parties are scrambling to position themselves in relation to a protest movement that has shown no sign of abating.
    — Nicholas Bequelin, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Clint Mueller, deputy director of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, said local governments now are scrambling to determine what other fees might be affected.
    — David Wickert, AJC.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of scrambling
Verb
  • Fishing for striped bass near this kind of structure can be productive in the summer and fall, sometimes by employing vertical jigging with hefty spoons or soft plastics to entice fish patrolling the bottom.
    — Ken Perrotte, USA Today, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The customers lined the rails, shoulder to shoulder, all jigging in unison to the classic rock that was blasting from the radio.
    — Matthew Every, Outdoor Life, 8 July 2026
Definition of jigging
Verb
  • Tarek Ghanem, a 41-year-old construction contractor who is homeless himself, ran from his tent 100 yards away to begin scrabbling through the debris.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The retaliation works, and soon Cole and his men are marching on foot, scrabbling their way through thickets and swamps.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
Definition of scrabbling
Verb
  • Levee, in this rendition, is the living embodiment of a jiving jazz cat who sees a future of faster, jumpier arrangements even for Ma Rainey’s dour if saucy blues.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 13 Oct. 2026
  • In fact, the three are hosting a dinner in Madrid this week in honor of the Spanish Grand Prix, jiving with the sportier attitude of this spring collection.
    — Thomas Waller, Footwear News, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of jiving
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.

Browse Nearby Words

shimmy
shimmying
shin
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shimmying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shimmying. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All