How to Use shakedown in a Sentence

shakedown

1 of 2 noun
  • He was the victim of a shakedown by a street gang.
  • They're putting the system through a shakedown.
  • The guards conducted a shakedown of the prisoners' cells to look for weapons.
  • Next will be the shakedown of ticketholders, in the form of PSLs.
    Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 30 Mar. 2022
  • Think of the Ukraine shakedown (over which Trump was impeached).
    Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 28 Oct. 2020
  • But the opacity of the process has led others to call it a shakedown.
    Ben Hubbard, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2018
  • Our shakedown cruise begins the day after the final bell of the school year rings.
    Susan Vollenweider, kansascity.com, 6 June 2017
  • The USS Ford was on a shakedown cruise designed to detect issues in the brand-new ship.
    Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 8 May 2018
  • In October, Combs set a new top speed of 483.2 mph in a shakedown run.
    Doug Criss, CNN, 29 Aug. 2019
  • It is called a shakedown, and there is no requirement to play nice.
    BostonGlobe.com, 14 Aug. 2021
  • America's neighbors to the north just got an on-the-ice shakedown.
    PEOPLE.com, 12 Feb. 2022
  • Those released agreed to sign over some of their assets, giving the crackdown the feel of a shakedown.
    Jon Gambrell, Star Tribune, 31 Aug. 2020
  • The first step in coming to grips with this distinguished group was a thorough shakedown at the test track.
    Rich Ceppos, Car and Driver, 12 Apr. 2023
  • The growing number of AI-media deals, then, are a shakedown.
    Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 30 July 2024
  • Their newsprint cameo upped the ante; the shakedowns intensified.
    Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 5 June 2023
  • The custom rig even underwent a five-month shakedown test in the Arctic.
    Brendan McAleer, Car and Driver, 5 May 2023
  • Perceptions, though, can be tough to shake during the pre-draft shakedown.
    Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY, 30 Apr. 2023
  • Those include the time Trump appeared to try to amputate Macron's arm at the shoulder, and the 25-second shakedown.
    Jack Holmes, Esquire, 20 July 2017
  • The Starbucks shakedown was easy in part because under Prop.
    The Editorial Board, WSJ, 30 Mar. 2018
  • That four-hour practice session to start the week will be the last hard shakedown before Friday's one-hour Carb Day before the race.
    Elton Alexander, cleveland.com, 22 May 2017
  • Check out the video premiere of Kreutzmann's shakedown below.
    Joe Lynch, Billboard, 30 Oct. 2019
  • The first launch will likely come in 2021 when the rocket carries an uncrewed capsule around the Moon in a shakedown cruise for the rocket and capsule.
    Lee Roop | Lroop@al.com, al, 16 Jan. 2020
  • Then, on Easter Sunday, she was accused of the shakedown at Rodriguez Park.
    Emilie Eaton, ExpressNews.com, 23 Jan. 2020
  • The shakedown robbery at the home on quiet Ardith Drive in south Sacramento had gone sideways.
    Darrell Smith, sacbee, 23 Sep. 2017
  • And it cannot be used as a vehicle to spread false and malicious lies, in furtherance of a shakedown.
    Meredith Woerner, Variety, 7 Mar. 2024
  • Cloudflare rejects this view, and instead likens Blackbird to a drive-by shakedown scheme.
    Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 21 Sep. 2017
  • But the shakedown is a warning to Garden State taxpayers.
    WSJ, 4 July 2017
  • Would this be a for-profit operation or a shakedown one?
    Amy Davidson, The New Yorker, 27 Apr. 2017
  • The four family members arrived in Denmark late last month and took the boat, dubbed Verbena, out for a for a few short shakedown sails.
    Scott Kirsner, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Aug. 2019
  • Trainor had 52 contest-winning fans in the crowd, and she was set to perform one full concert on board later in the week as the ship finished out its last shakedown cruise.
    Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 16 July 2024
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shake down

2 of 2 verb
  • First, Trump tried to shake down Ukraine for dirt on Hunter Biden.
    Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 7 July 2023
  • Of the 128, many were shaken down by earthquakes; many now are closed.
    Frances Mayes, National Geographic, 11 July 2019
  • Then when you get elected, shake down the Air Force instead.
    Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 9 Dec. 2019
  • For a week, the Car and Driver staff left the office to shake down the vehicles on our 10Best loop.
    Car and Driver, 17 Jan. 2023
  • And soon the 111-year-old ballpark was rumbling in a way David Ortiz used to shake down the thunder.
    Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Jan. 2023
  • Buck harvest remains open through Feb. 10 in all three zones, and thanks to the rut and the cold weather, things are shaking down just right.
    Frank Sargeant, AL.com, 3 Jan. 2018
  • Gusts of up to 35 mph, which can shake down flammable dry pine needles, are expected.
    Mallory Moench, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Sep. 2021
  • There was talk of stints in rehab by the actress Lindsay Lohan and an attempt to shake down Mr. Sheen.
    Jesse McKinley, New York Times, 2 May 2024
  • This is just yet another clunky attempt by MLB to shake down a city, any city, for a ballpark.
    Joe Sheehan, SI.com, 2 July 2019
  • Invert plate and mold together and shake down sharply to release cream.
    Woman's Day, 1 Feb. 2012
  • Arkansas is going to miss out on recruits if things shake down that way.
    Eric Bolin, ajc, 15 Nov. 2017
  • Ex-Miami cop pleads guilty to shaking down dealers for coke and cash.
    Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 2 July 2024
  • Barzani said the militants are living off the land, shaking down the local villagers for food and money.
    Washington Post, 24 Dec. 2019
  • Later new complaints surfaced of people being shaken down for $1,500 to be put at the top of wait lists to present claims in the United States.
    Maria Verza, The Denver Post, 18 Nov. 2019
  • This was an epic bamboozle, where a crusading Big Green lawyer used courts in Ecuador to shake down Chevron for $18 billion.
    Jack Fowler, National Review, 15 Apr. 2021
  • Mr Sinik decided who got killed in Medan and who should merely be shaken down for money.
    The Economist, 14 Nov. 2019
  • Screw lying about on a plane to Miami, these two should have hopped a plane to France and really shook down the father of three and Disney star!
    Mariah Smith, The Cut, 11 Sep. 2017
  • The nurses and EMTs who shake down hospitals are really shaking down all of us.
    Ryan Ellis, National Review, 6 Mar. 2022
  • One case stems from claims that Netanyahu and his wife shook down rich acquaintances for luxury gifts.
    Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, 13 Feb. 2018
  • Democrats say the call shows Trump trying to shake down a foreign leader for political gain.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Sep. 2019
  • The government said the men used the botnet to shake down victims and to lease its arsenal out to other attackers.
    Robert McMillan, WSJ, 13 Dec. 2017
  • Even the dean of the council, Burke, wasn’t above shaking down a businessman who needed city permits to fix up a rundown Burger King.
    Ray Long, Chicago Tribune, 8 Sep. 2024
  • Take, for example, when Feldheimer tries to shake down agent Osborne Cox (Malkovich), who instead delivers the former a swift punch to the face.
    Derek Scancarelli, EW.com, 7 July 2022
  • On two occasions, Henríquez said, Cindy had been robbed by gang members who boarded her bus and shook down the passengers.
    Joshua Partlow, Washington Post, 21 June 2018
  • The Curiosity rover is still going through its shake down phase, using new equipment and making sure all is well.
    Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 28 Aug. 2012
  • Vila Kennedy resident Pierre Lopes de Juno, 38, said he was shaken down by a police patrol one night this month.
    Anthony Faiola and Marina Lopes, Washington Post, 25 Mar. 2018
  • Companies such as Acacia Mining have been shaken down for huge tax bills.
    The Economist, 1 Aug. 2019
  • Some prisoners in states with the most seizures have used phones to shake down families of fellow inmates threatened with injury or death.
    Matt Riley, NBC News, 30 Sep. 2017
  • Davis and his sales force soon will begin shaking down Raiders fans to buy tickets and seat licenses in the new stadium/casino in Vegas.
    Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 7 Jan. 2018
  • Notre Dame Stadium is supposed to be a place to shake down the thunder, not where the Thundering Herd celebrate a 26-21 victory.
    Tom Coyne, Chicago Tribune, 10 Sep. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shakedown.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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