Verb. (venery).—1. See quots., and (2) to masturbate.
[?]. Nominale MSS., Lascivus. Anglice a schakere.
1847. Halliwell, Arch. Words, &c., s.v. Shake . . . (5) Futuo. This seems to be the ancient form of shag, given by Grose.
2. (old).—To steal: e.g., to shake a swell = to rob a gentleman; to shake a chest of slop = to steal a chest of tea; to be shook of a skin = to be robbed of a purse; Have you shook? = Have you stolen anything, &c. (Grose and Vaux).
1859. Kingsley, Geoffrey Hamlyn, xix. I . . . got from bad to worse till I shook a nag, and got bowled out and lagged.
1885. Chambers's Journal, 21 Mar., 190. Each man on the best stock-horse he could beg, borrow, or shake.
1888. Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, xxiv. Some well-bred horse you chaps have been shaking lately. Ibid., xxxiv. I've two minds to shake him and leave you my horse and a share of the gold to boot.
3. (common).—To shake hands; generally Shake!
1825. Jones, True Bottom'd Boxer [Univ. Songst., ii. 96]. Spring's the boy for . . . shaking a flipper.
1891. Newman, Scamping Tricks, 59. Shake! That's right. As we understand each other, I will now tell you how things ended.
1892. Lippincott's, Oct., 501. I'd cure thet kid, ef it bust the plan Of the whole durned universe. "Shake!" says Dan.
1900. Savage, Brought to Bay, ii. 'Shake, honest Injun!' said the Texan.
4. (common).—To throw dice, or (printers') 'quads'; to gamble (Grose): see Jeff; and to shake an elbow (q.v., adding to the latter the following earlier and later quotations).
1613. Webster, Devil's Law Case, ii. 1. Shaking your elbow at the table-board . . . and resorting to your whore in hired velvet.
1891. Lic. Vict. Gaz., 3 Ap. Shaking his elbow at baccarat nearly every night.
5. (common).—To turn one's back on; to desert.
Phrases and Colloquialisms.—More than one can shake a stick at = past counting; nothing worth shaking a stick at = worthless; to shake a foot (toe, or leg) = to dance; to shake a loose leg (see Leg); to shake together = to get on well or smoothly; to shake up = to upbraid; TO shake a fall = to wrestle; to shake a tart = to possess a woman; to shake up = (1) to scold, and (2) to masturbate; to shake a cloth in the wind = to be hanged (Grose); to shake down = (1) (see Shake-down), and (2) to accommode oneself to, to settle down; to shake the ghost into one = to frighten; to shake the bullet (or red rag) = (1) see Bullet and Red, and (2) to threaten to discharge (tailors'); to shake up = to get (American); 'You may go and shake your ears' = advice to one who has lost his money, (Ray).
1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, ii. 1. Go, shake your ears.
[16?]. Holland, Camden, 628. Mabel did shake up in some hard and sharpe termes a young gentleman.
1826. Neal, Peter Brush. I've . . . got more black eyes and bloody noses than you could shake a stick at.
[?]. Crockett, Tour, 87. There was nothing to treat a friend to that was worth shaking a stick at.
1830. Buckstone, Wreck Ashore, ii. 1. Gaf. Dance? I havn't shaken a toe these twenty years.
