Shakedown

Pronunciation: /ʃeɪkdaʊn/

Definitions of shakedown

noun an act of testing or assessing something

Example Sentences

A1 The police conducted a shakedown of the suspect's belongings.

A2 During the shakedown, they found drugs hidden in the car.

B1 The company underwent a financial shakedown to cut costs.

B2 The government initiated a shakedown of corrupt officials in the department.

C1 The shakedown of the company's policies led to increased efficiency and profitability.

C2 The political shakedown exposed deep-rooted corruption within the system.

Examples of shakedown in a Sentence

formal The company underwent a shakedown to identify any potential areas of improvement.

informal The police conducted a shakedown at the nightclub to check for illegal substances.

slang I heard there was a shakedown at the party last night, but luckily I left before it happened.

figurative The sudden market crash felt like a shakedown of the entire financial system.

Grammatical Forms of shakedown

• past tense: shook
• plural: shakedowns
• comparative: more shakedown
• superlative: most shakedown
• present tense: shake down
• future tense: will shake down
• perfect tense: have shaken down
• continuous tense: is shaking down
• singular: shakedown
• positive degree: shakedown
• infinitive: to shake down
• gerund: shaking down
• participle: shaken down

Origin and Evolution of shakedown

First Known Use: 1601 year

Language of Origin: English

Story behind the word: The word 'shakedown' originated from the practice of shaking down something, such as a tree or a person, to extract money or information.

Evolution of the word: Over time, 'shakedown' evolved to also refer to a thorough search or a test of stability, as in a shakedown cruise for a ship or a shakedown of a new system.