as in plucked
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shook down
Verb
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Some songs here have been plucked from Robyn’s back catalog and given a dusting up for the 2020s.—
Molly Mary O’Brien,
Pitchfork,
27 Mar. 2026 -
Come down from your tower for a steak, some seafood plucked from Gulf waters, a martini.—
Elazar Sontag,
Washington Post,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Indigenous people have been cheated through laws such as are operated in Nigeria today.—
Noo Saro-Wiwa,
The Dial,
24 Mar. 2026
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So those Santa Ana constituents would be cheated out of services if the money remained solely in the First District.—
Tony Saavedra,
Oc Register,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
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And almost all traffic goes through two main shipping lanes that are even more squeezed.—
Annette Choi,
CNN Money,
27 Mar. 2026
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More than 22,000 oranges are squeezed, and hundreds of gallons of drinks are poured, all for opening day.—
Caroline Foreback,
CBS News,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Anyone who is stung repeatedly or has trouble breathing should call 911.—
Rey Covarrubias Jr,
AZCentral.com,
29 Mar. 2026
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These scandals stung at the time, but looking back, Cyrus wouldn’t have changed a thing.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The dads and sons hustled to a nearby dirt patch.—
Charles Bethea,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
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Minnesota pulled even in the fourth when Byron Buxton hustled home on sacrifice fly by Josh Bell.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The platform exploded in popularity during the pandemic as millions of people stuck at home globally turned to the web, fuelling a surge in content and users.—
Reuters,
USA Today,
24 Mar. 2026
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Per the official logline, School Spirits is centered around Maddie, a teen girl stuck in the afterlife investigating her own mysterious disappearance.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Tim Brinkhof Million Stories Many were expecting extremism survivor and free speech advocate Salman Rushdie to take home the Nobel Prize in Literature, but Annie Ernaux beat him to it.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
25 Mar. 2026
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Mikael Granlund scored twice, Alex Killorn had a goal and an assist, and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 on Thursday night.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Harper is thrilled, Whitney is screwed.—
Meg Walters,
Glamour,
2 Mar. 2026
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You just got screwed over by a duo!—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
26 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Shook down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shook%20down. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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