shimmyn.1
/ˈʃɪmi/, U.S. /ˈʃɪmi/ English regional and U.S.
= chemise n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > underwear > [noun] > vest or undershirt > for women
chemiseeOE
smocka1000
simar1636
smicketc1685
shift1712
shimmy1837
vestee1963
1837 F. Marryat Snarleyyow III. viii. 123 We have nothing but petticoats here and shimmeys.
1839 G. C. Lewis Gloss. Provinc. Words Herefordshire Shimmy, shift; now used by cottagers.
1856 ‘The Druid’ Post & Paddock x. 176 Two shirts and ‘a shimmy’ is about the regulation package for a man and his wife.
1889 Macmillan's Mag. Sept. 360/1 I did count on gettin' myself a new shimmy.
1952 New Yorker 20 Sept. 35/1 To persuade the young matron to doff her wet shimmy.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
shimmyn.2
/ˈʃɪmi/, U.S. /ˈʃɪmi/ 1. A lively modern dance resembling a foxtrot accompanied by simulated quivering or shaking of the body which first achieved wide popularity in the early nineteen-twenties; a performance of this dance. Also in to shake a shimmy. Originally U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > shaking or jiving dances > [noun]
twist1894
shimmy1918
shimmying1919
shimmy shiver1919
heebie-jeebies1923
shimmy shake1925
shimmy-fox1926
shag1932
jitterbugging1938
jitterbug1939
jive1943
the Shake1946
swim1965
1917 Variety 30 Nov. 19/1 The opening number was programed as a combination of ‘Strutter's Ball’, ‘Shimme-Sha-Wabble’ and ‘Walking the Dog’.]
1918 Dancing Times Nov. 35 It is still very, very crude—and it is called ‘Shaking the Shimmy’... It's a nigger dance, of course, and it appears to be a slow walk with a frequent twitching of the shoulders.
1920 C. Sandburg Smoke & Steel 223 Shimmying the fast shimmy to the Livery Stable Blues.
1921 Punch 160 398/3 From a description of the ‘shimmy’: ‘The Negro invited his partner to dance by beating his feet and a sideways movement which consisted of “shimmying” or shivering.’
1922 Weekly Disp. 31 Dec. 9 ‘Shimmy’ banned in New York... The Chicago camel-walk, scandal, balconnades, and shimmy dances must cease.
1924 P. Marks Plastic Age 275 That music was enough to make a saint shed his halo and shake a shimmy.
1935 J. T. Farrell Judgment Day i. xvi. 387 The building began to waver and dance before his eyes. Funny. The building was doing the shimmy.
1947 M. Berger in R. de Toledano Frontiers of Jazz viii. 96 They did the Virginia reel, slow and fast quadrilles and the shimmy.
1956 ‘B. Holiday’ & W. Dufty Lady sings Blues iv. 51 White people..came to the Cotton Club—a place Negroes never saw inside unless they played music or did the shakes or shimmies.
1975 P. G. Winslow Death of Angel xii. 232 Frayne..held the towel behind his hips and did what..used to be called the shimmy.
1977 New Hampsh. Times 27 July 12/2 Glasses in New Hampshire cupboards began to rattle as houses started modest shimmies.
2. transferred. An oscillation or vibration of the wheels, etc., of a motor vehicle or of an aircraft undercarriage; spec. = wheel wobble n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > [noun] > in parts of vehicles
shimmying1919
shimmy1925
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [noun] > parts of vehicle moving on wheels > wheel > specific movement of wheels
lock1794
skidding1889
shimmying1919
shimmy1925
wheel spin1928
wheel wobble1930
tramp1935
wheel slip1945
1925 Proc. Inst. Automobile Engineers 19 822 This phenomenon..is variously termed ‘wheel flap’, ‘shimmy’, ‘goldfishing’, ‘tramping’, ‘wobble’, according to the nationality and imagination of the writers.
1936 Aircraft Engin. July 199/1 With the use of the front castorable wheel another difficulty develops..in the form of wheel shimmy.
1940 G. Frankau Self-portrait lxii. 385 ‘Frankie’..developed a shimmy in her full elliptic springing that made her solid steering column feel like india~rubber.
1943 F. L. Wright Autobiogr. (rev. ed.) v. 411 At high speed it would settle down and shake itself almost to pieces in a perfect frenzy (the garage-doctors called it a shimmy).
1958 H. G. Conway Landing Gear Design viii. 150 Shimmy can be divided into two basic types: large angle and small angle (or kinematic) shimmy.
1968 K. J. Bunker in J. G. Giles Steering, Suspension & Tyres vii. 132 Shimmy..is usually started by road irregularities.
1977 Grimsby Evening Tel. 5 May 5/1 (advt.) Terrific tyre bargains!.. Wheel balancing. Got the ‘shimmy’—Got the ‘shakes’? Expert correction.
Compounds
C1. General attributive. (In sense 1.)
shimmy dance n.
ΚΠ
1919 N.Y. World 17 Jan. 7/5 (heading) Shimmy dance is banned in greater New York.
shimmy dancer n.
ΚΠ
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. 510 You found me in evil company, highkickers, coster picnic makers, pugilists..and the nifty shimmy dancers.
1967 Boston Globe 5 Apr. 59/3 A largely nude shimmy dancer put in all the bumps and grinds with a gyrating G.I.
shimmy dress n.
ΚΠ
1919 Honey Pot 1 i. 8 The Eton collar which, in addition to her plain blue ‘shimmy’ dress..made her resemble a school-girl of sweet sixteen.
1968 P. Oliver Screening Blues vi. 206 The women dressed exotically and were supported by scantily clad chorus girls wearing the shimmy dresses of the period.
C2.
shimmy damper n. a device fitted to aircraft undercarriages and motor vehicles in order to prevent or reduce shimmy.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > [noun] > landing gear > strut or damper
shimmy damper1928
oleo1929
shock-absorber1931
shock strut1931
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > steering, suspension, or wheels > springs, etc., supporting chassis > shock-absorbers and dampers
shock-absorber1906
absorber1909
snubber1921
shimmy damper1928
shocker1949
shock1961
shox1976
1928 Proc. Inst. Automobile Engineers 22 741 It is important when using a shimmy damper to avoid the use of spring connections..in the steerage linkage.
1946 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 50 533/2 In only one aircraft had a hydraulic shimmy damper been used, and that was a direct copy of the damper used in Douglas aircraft.
1958 H. G. Conway Landing Gear Design viii. 153 (caption) A well-known type of American shimmy damper on the rotating vane principle.
shimmy-fox n. (also shimmy-foxtrot) = shimmy shake n.; also, (a piece of) music to accompany this dance.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > shaking or jiving dances > [noun]
twist1894
shimmy1918
shimmying1919
shimmy shiver1919
heebie-jeebies1923
shimmy shake1925
shimmy-fox1926
shag1932
jitterbugging1938
jitterbug1939
jive1943
the Shake1946
swim1965
1926–7 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. 305/1 Collegiate—Shimmy Fox Trot.
1928 Observer 15 Apr. 12 Instead of a scherzo she has written a shimmy-foxtrot.
1934 C. Lambert Music Ho! iii. 224 Jannings going to the dogs is not a more melancholy spectacle than some worthy Teutonic fiddler putting a little pep into a ‘shimmy-fox’.
shimmy shake n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > shaking or jiving dances > [noun]
twist1894
shimmy1918
shimmying1919
shimmy shiver1919
heebie-jeebies1923
shimmy shake1925
shimmy-fox1926
shag1932
jitterbugging1938
jitterbug1939
jive1943
the Shake1946
swim1965
1925 Infanta Eulalia of Spain Courts & Countries after War i. 18 The history of dancing during the Revolution repeated itself, with the differences that the Carmagnole of '93 was the Shimmy Shake or the Bunny Hug of 1914.
shimmy shiver n. = 1; hence shimmy shaker.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > shaking or jiving dances > [noun]
twist1894
shimmy1918
shimmying1919
shimmy shiver1919
heebie-jeebies1923
shimmy shake1925
shimmy-fox1926
shag1932
jitterbugging1938
jitterbug1939
jive1943
the Shake1946
swim1965
1919 N.Y. Sun 16 Jan. 14/4 I was dancing the shimi shiver.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
shimmyv.1
Originally U.S.
1.
a. intransitive. To dance the shimmy.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > shaking or jiving dances > [verb (intransitive)]
shimmy1919
jitterbug1939
jive1939
shag1939
twist1961
1919 J. R. Pickell Twenty-four Days on Troopship xiv. 74 O, boys, we don't care, If we never get home, If mother will shimmy So long as we roam.
1919 A. J. Piron (title of song) I wish I could shemmi like my sister Kate.
1927 Daily Express 14 Dec. 4 Eight most attractive little girls..shimmied and Charlestoned with all the polish and precision of so many Tallulah Bankheads.
1932 J. Laver Nymph Errant viii. 199 Constantine shimmied until beads of perspiration gathered on his shiny forehead.
1977 Zigzag Apr. 28/1 He gyrates, shimmies, shakes his ass.
b. transitive. To dance (the shimmy); to shake (part of the body) as in the shimmy.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > shaking or jiving dances > [verb (transitive)]
shimmy1920
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > vibrate [verb (transitive)] > shake > the body or part of body
shakec1386
shimmy1956
1920 C. Sandburg Smoke & Steel 223 Shimmying the fast shimmy to the Livery Stable Blues.
1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It xi. 85 Pauline used to tell me..shimmying her loose bare arms of which she was so proud for their milky flesh, ‘like this, like that, and ziggety-zaggety’.
1974 J. Irving 158-Pound Marriage vii. 148 She shimmied her fingers the way Tyrone Williams did before the whistle.
2. intransitive. figurative and transferred. To shake, quiver, vibrate, to progress hastily or irregularly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > vibrate [verb (intransitive)]
evibrate1583
vibrate1756
shimmy1925
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swift movement in specific manner > move swiftly in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > move with urgent speed
rempeOE
fuseOE
rakeOE
hiec1175
i-fusec1275
rekec1275
hastec1300
pellc1300
platc1300
startc1300
buskc1330
rapc1330
rapec1330
skip1338
firk1340
chase1377
raikc1390
to hie one's waya1400
catchc1400
start?a1505
spur1513
hasten1534
to make speed1548
post1553
hurry1602
scud1602
curry1608
to put on?1611
properate1623
post-haste1628
whirryc1630
dust1650
kite1854
to get a move on1888
to hump it1888
belt1890
to get (or put) one's skates on1895
hotfoot1896
to rattle one's dags1968
shimmy1969
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swift movement in specific manner > move swiftly in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > irregularly or unsteadily
reelc1586
shimmy1969
1925 C. R. Cooper Lions 'n' Tigers ix. 235 Leader Mary was beginning to shimmy slightly with increased flight.
1925 C. R. Cooper Lions 'n' Tigers vii. 175 Old Mom [sc. an elephant] shimmied with delight.
1941 Picture Post 3 May 9/2 The gunfire came surging back... The floor of the basement shimmied underneath me and the whole house shook like a Chinese lantern in a breeze.
1942 Jrnl. Aeronaut. Sci. 9 400/1 It is impossible for any side force to build up on the tire to cause it to shimmy.
1958 H. G. Conway Landing Gear Design viii. 152 Aircraft..with less than a certain amount of castoring friction shimmied and those with more did not.
1969 L. Michaels Going Places 135 She..shimmied up my arm and hung from my shoulder like a bunch of bananas.
1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 2 July 814/3 When his wife was asleep, he would shimmy down a pillar to the ground floor.
1980 Daily Tel. 29 Nov. 17/3 Palm, shimmying in the warm breezes all along the coasts.
Derivatives
ˈshimmying n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > shaking or jiving dances > [noun]
twist1894
shimmy1918
shimmying1919
shimmy shiver1919
heebie-jeebies1923
shimmy shake1925
shimmy-fox1926
shag1932
jitterbugging1938
jitterbug1939
jive1943
the Shake1946
swim1965
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > shaking or jiving dances > [adjective]
shimmying1919
jitterbugging1938
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > [noun] > in parts of vehicles
shimmying1919
shimmy1925
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > [adjective] > vibrating
vibrant1616
vibrissant1664
vibrative1667
vibrating17..
shimmying1919
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [noun] > parts of vehicle moving on wheels > wheel > specific movement of wheels
lock1794
skidding1889
shimmying1919
shimmy1925
wheel spin1928
wheel wobble1930
tramp1935
wheel slip1945
1919 J. R. Pickell Twenty-four Days on Troopship 73 The star in the heavens, Looked down with a frown, To see mother so shimmied In her shimmeying gown.
1928 J. Galsworthy Swan Song ii. xiii. 217 He..watched the dancing on deck—funny business nowadays, shimmying, bunnyhugging, didn't they call it.
1942 R. H. Bound in R. A. Beaumont Aeronaut. Engin. xv. 412/2 Main tail wheels have been subject to one very serious defect, namely, shimmying; this consists of violent oscillations of the tail-wheel from side to side when the aircraft is running over the ground.
1972 Sci. Amer. Oct. 100/3 Most of the behavior of a nucleus undergoing nuclear fission can be understood as the splitting of a shimmying electrically charged drop.
1977 Gay News 24 Mar. 23/1 A mere suggestion of a shimmying hip and you were lectured by a bartender.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
shimmyv.2
/ˈʃɪmi/, U.S. /ˈʃɪmi/ intransitive and transitive. To ‘dance’ in; to transport (a person) quickly.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > [verb (transitive)] > rapidly
rush1554
whirr1609
posta1616
whirl1616
spin1696
romp1895
shoot1919
shimmy1923
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move progressively in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > without effort
drift1822
wift1864
shimmy1923
1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves vii. 76 I bounded into the sitting-room, but it was empty. Jeeves shimmied in.
1930 G. MacMunn Behind Scenes in Many Wars x. 187 A small destroyer..would shimmy us over to the beaches from Imbros.
1980 G. V. Higgins Kennedy for Def. x. 104 I just love seeing fat fees shimmy out the door to go elsewhere.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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