<B>shaggy, </B>adjective, <B>-gier,</B> <B>-giest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>covered with a thick, rough mass of hair or wool, or something resembling them. <BR> <I>Ex. a shaggy dog.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>long, thick, and rough. <BR> <I>Ex. shaggy eyebrows, a shaggy mustache.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>unkempt in appearance, especially needing a haircut or shave. <DD><B> 4. </B>covered with a rough, tangled growth of plants. <DD><B> 5. </B>having a long, rough nap; of coarse texture. <BR> <I>Ex. a shaggy felt hat, a shaggy rug.</I> adv. <B>shaggily.</B> noun <B>shagginess.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="shaggydogstory">
<B>shaggy dog story,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a story which relates, usually at great length, a number of unimportant incidents in building up to an unexpected or ridiculous climax. </DL>
<A NAME="shaggymane">
<B>shaggy-mane, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a fungus having a white top that is good to eat. </DL>
<A NAME="shagreen">
<B>shagreen, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a kind of untanned leather with a granular surface made from the skin of the horse, ass, shark, seal, or other animals. It is usually dyed green. <DD><B> 2. </B>the rough skin of certain sharks and rays, used especially for polishing. <DD><I>adj. </I> made of shagreen. <BR> <I>Ex. a shagreen case.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="shah">
<B>Shah</B> or <B>shah, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the title of the former ruler of Iran. <DD><B> 2. </B>a title of local chiefs in various Asian countries, especially India. </DL>
<A NAME="shahaptian">
<B>Shahaptian, </B>adjective, noun, pl. <B>-ans</B> or <B>-an.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with an American Indian linguistic family that includes the language of the Nez Perces. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an Indian of this linguistic family. Shahaptians lived in the northern part of the valley of the Columbia River. <DD><B> 2. </B>this linguistic family. Also, <B>Sahaptan.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="shahdom">
<B>Shahdom</B> or <B>shahdom, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the territory under the rule of a Shah. </DL>
<A NAME="shahrith">
<B>shahrith, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Judaism.) the daily morning prayer or service. </DL>
<B>shaitan, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>in Moslem usage: <DD><B> a. </B>Often, <B>Shaitan.</B> Satan; the Devil. <DD><B> b. </B>an evil spirit, especially one of an order of the jinn. <DD><B> 2. </B>a vicious person or animal. Also, <B>sheitan.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="shak">
<B>Shak.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Shakespeare. </DL>
<A NAME="shakable">
<B>shakable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be shaken. </DL>
<A NAME="shake">
<B>shake, </B>verb, <B>shook,</B> <B>shaken,</B> <B>shaking,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to cause to move quickly backwards and forwards, up and down, or from side to side. <BR> <I>Ex. to shake a rug, to shake one's head. The baby shook the rattle.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to bring, throw, force, rouse, or scatter by or as if by movement. <BR> <I>Ex. to shake dust from a rug. He shook the snow off his clothes.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to clasp (a hand or hands) in greeting or congratulating another. <BR> <I>Ex. The businessmen shook hands after signing the contract.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to make tremble. <BR> <I>Ex. The explosion shook the building.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) to cause to totter or waver. <BR> <I>Ex. to shake the very foundations of society.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) to disturb; make less firm or sure; upset. <BR> <I>Ex. His lie shook my faith in his honesty. I'd jump up abruptly, in the middle of a word, but I still couldn't shake them (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Slang, Figurative.) to get rid of (a person); give up (a habit). <BR> <I>Ex. Can't you shake him?</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Music.) to execute with a trill; trill. <DD><B> 9. </B>to mix (dice) before throwing. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to move quickly backwards and forwards, up and down, or from side to side. <BR> <I>Ex. The branches of the old tree shook in the wind.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to be shaken. <BR> <I>Ex. Sand shakes off easily.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to tremble. <BR> <I>Ex. He is shaking with cold. The house shook in the storm. The boy shook with fear at the sound of the howling dog.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) to become weakened or unsteady; totter; waver. <BR> <I>Ex. My courage began to shake.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to clasp hands. <BR> <I>Ex. Let's shake and make up.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Music.) to trill. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the act or fact of shaking. <BR> <I>Ex. A shake of her head was the answer.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) an earthquake. <DD><B> 3. </B>a drink made by shaking ingredients together. <BR> <I>Ex. a milk shake.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Slang.) a moment. <BR> <I>Ex. I'll be there in two shakes.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Informal.) treatment; deal. <BR> <I>Ex. Both Pyongyang and Hanoi felt ... that the [New York] Times men were likely to give them a favorable shake (Time).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Music.) a rapid alternation of a note with the note above it or below it; trill. <DD><B> 7a. </B>a crack in a growing tree; fissure. <DD><B> b. </B>such cracks as a group. <DD><B> 8. </B>a fissure, as in rock or mineral strata. <DD><B> 9. </B>a rough shingle used to cover cabins, barns, and the like. <BR><I>expr. <B>no great shakes,</B> </I>(Informal.) not unusual, extraordinary, or important. <BR> <I>Ex. Her early novels were no great shakes, as she herself fully realized (New York Times).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>shake down,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to bring or throw down by shaking. </I> <I>Ex. Parts of two monasteries had been shaken down by earthquakes (Henry F. Tozer).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to settle down or cause to settle down. <BR> <I>Ex. The Gemini 5 astronauts worked through a busy day ... shaking down for a long voyage (Evert Clark). It now appears that Korea, communism and foreign policy in particular have been fairly well shaken down as issues (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>to bring into working order. <BR> <I>Ex. He finally managed to shake down the troublesome motor and get on his way.</I> <DD><B> d. </B>(Slang.) to get money from dishonestly. <BR> <I>Ex. ... a fantastic story of how two men had tried to shake him down for $500,000 (Time).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>shake off,</B> </I>to get rid of. <BR> <I>Ex. I am glad I have wholly shaken off that family (Jonathan Swift).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>shake out,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to shake thoroughly or vigorously. </I> <I>Ex. Let's shake out that dusty rug.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to take out or spread out by shaking. <BR> <I>Ex. to shake out a blanket for a picnic.</I> <DD><B> c(1). </B>to remove water from (a canoe) by rocking it. <BR> <I>Ex. We shook out the canoe and got back in.</I> <DD><B> (2). </B>to allow the removal of water. <BR> <I>Ex. This canoe does not shake out easily.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>shake up,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to shake hard. </I> <I>Ex. She shook up a mixture of oil and vinegar to make salad dressing.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to stir up. <BR> <I>Ex. Bob ... hollers to his horses, and shakes 'em up, and away we goes (Thomas Hughes).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>(Figurative.) to jar in body or nerves. <BR> <I>Ex. He was much shaken up by his frightening experience.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>the shakes,</B> (Informal.) <DD><B> a. </B>any disease characterized by a trembling of the muscles and limbs. </I> <I>Ex. Anxiety symptoms were relieved, he revealed, and the "shakes" lessened (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) nervousness caused by fear or horror. <BR> <I>Ex. The sliding glass doors ... were locked ... so I sat around and waited, trying not to get the shakes (Benjamin Bova).</I> </DL>
<B>shake-down</B> (1) or <B>shakedown</B> (1), noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>(Informal.) a bringing into proper condition or working order, as by use or practice. <BR> <I>Ex. The new ocean liner was given a shakedown by a trial voyage.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a makeshift bed. <BR> <I>Ex. We made a shakedown of straw and blankets on the floor.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the process of shaking down. <BR> <I>Ex. Now give the bed a shake-down (Thomas Hardy).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a thorough search of a place or person. <DD><I>adj. </I> (Informal.) having to do with a trial and adjustment of new equipment, sometimes to permit a crew to become familiar with it. <BR> <I>Ex. a shakedown cruise.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="shakedown">
<B>shake-down</B> (2) or <B>shakedown</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) an exaction, as of money, by compulsion, especially in various forms of graft. <BR> <I>Ex. ... letters alleging pay-offs, graft and shake-downs in military clothing contracts (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="shakefork">
<B>shakefork, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a large wooden fork, used especially for lifting and shaking threshed straw to separate the grain. <DD><B> 2. </B>a bearing on a coat of arms having the shape of a Y with blunted ends that do not reach the edge of the shield. </DL>
<A NAME="shaken">
<B>shaken, </B>verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> the past participle of <B>shake.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="shakeout">
<B>shakeout, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><B> 1a. </B>a recession in a particular type of business, industry, trade, or other area of the economy, especially when accompanied by a disappearance of small competitors, marginal enterprises, and the like. <BR> <I>Ex. A shakeout already is under way that will end with six or eight producers dominating the field (Wall Street Journal). So far, unemployment hasn't approached the level of the last business shakeout (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a similar decline in the stock market, resulting in widespread sellout of securities. <BR> <I>Ex. The stock market last week saw its sharpest shakeout since May (Time).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a drastic reorganization, as of policy or personnel, usually resulting in the dismissal of some employees; shakeup. <BR> <I>Ex. ... a possible shakeout of leading personalities associated with the succession (Birmingham Post-Herald).</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>the act of shaking something out. <DD><B> b. </B>the act of removing water from a canoe by rocking it. </DL>
