Thesaurus results for SHOOK DOWN

shook down

verb

past tense of shake down

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

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 shook down Bernthal played the real-life Baltimore policeman Wayne Jenkins, who led a crew of officers who shook down people for cash and drugs. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shook down

Verb

Four years later Fontaine plucked another future Hall of Famer, taking outfielder Tony Gwynn in the third round.

— Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
His last one was in the fourth quarter by Curry, who read the short pass and plucked it out of the air for the score.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of plucked

Verb

Frazier was a Black sharecropper’s son who’d overcome much hardship, and the insults stung.

— Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026
As solitary insects with limited aggression towards humans, the risk of getting stung is often not worth your direct interference.

— Sean Donnelly, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of stung

Verb

Quickly, the house lights come up, and Lay and family are hustled backstage to get reacquainted.

— Joan Kron, Allure, 28 Sep. 2026
Her mother hustled her to hospital, only for the doctors to realize Accurso’s active imagination had left her in the same predicament as Madeline’s friends.

— CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of hustled

Verb

Leaders get stuck because of a mindset, a relationship or a system that nobody has ever named out loud.

— Drew McLellan, Forbes.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Still, getting ourselves out via some traction boards would have saved on money, frustration and the embarrassment that accompanies getting stuck less than a mile from the highway.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of stuck

Verb

Built along a verdant slope edging Bodrum’s Paradise Bay, this contemporary property offers hard-to-beat vistas.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
Hastert became a congressional candidate in 1986 and beat the Democrat with 52% of the vote, his smallest margin of victory in a congressional race.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of beat

Verb

Sometimes a lid isn’t screwed tightly, and your foundation proves its worth all over the inside of your bag.

— Carin Ryan, Travel + Leisure, 15 Sep. 2026
Like her, Americans are also so tired of being screwed by an administration that’s not only grossly incompetent and cruel but corrupt as well.

— Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of screwed

Browse Nearby Words

shook a leg

shook down

shook (off)

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“Shook down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shook%20down. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of shook down

verb

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