plural shimmies
1
[by alteration]
: chemise
2
[short for shimmy-shake]
: a jazz dance characterized by a shaking of the body from the shoulders down
3
: an abnormal vibration especially in the front wheels of a motor vehicle
shimmied; shimmying
1
: to shake, quiver, or tremble in or as if in dancing a shimmy
2
: to vibrate abnormally
—used especially of automobiles
3
: shinny
Examples of shimmy in a Sentence
Verb
They were shimmying on the dance floor.
I shimmied into my jacket.
One of the car's wheels was shimmying.
Recent Examples on the Web
The Athletic Uk Staff, The Athletic, 12 July 2024
The singer walked into the audience and danced alongside Swift and Post Malone before approaching Cabello for a little Cuban-Colombian shimmy.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2024
Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 7 Feb. 2025
Over at the Sparkle City Disco show, a coven of drunken zoomers—many of whom, mind you, were born after 9/11—are all shimmying jubilantly to songs by Donna Summer, pointing stoically to the ground and then triumphantly up at the ceiling, looking rather a lot like latter-day John Travoltas.
—Barrett Swanson, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shimmy
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Noun
In the example below, Kane shimmies towards Jude Bellingham on the ball (white arrow) despite a gap opening up between Virgil van Dijk and Nathan Ake (black arrow/area).
—The Athletic Uk Staff, The Athletic, 12 July 2024
The singer walked into the audience and danced alongside Swift and Post Malone before approaching Cabello for a little Cuban-Colombian shimmy.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2024
Verb
Turlington greeted another old-school Calvin face, Kate Moss herself, with an extended, shimmying hug before chatting with Mario Sorrenti and his wife, Mary Frey, and stylist Elizabeth Saltzman.
—Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 7 Feb. 2025
Over at the Sparkle City Disco show, a coven of drunken zoomers—many of whom, mind you, were born after 9/11—are all shimmying jubilantly to songs by Donna Summer, pointing stoically to the ground and then triumphantly up at the ceiling, looking rather a lot like latter-day John Travoltas.
—Barrett Swanson, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shimmy
Cite this Entry
“Shimmy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shimmy. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.
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