shimmied









shimmied


noun, plural shim·mies.

  1. an American ragtime dance marked by shaking of the hips and shoulders.
  2. excessive wobbling in the front wheels of a motor vehicle.
  3. a chemise.

verb (used without object), shim·mied, shim·my·ing.

  1. to dance the shimmy.
  2. to shake, wobble, or vibrate.

noun plural -mies

  1. an American ragtime dance with much shaking of the hips and shoulders
  2. abnormal wobbling motion in a motor vehicle, esp in the front wheels or steering
  3. an informal word for chemise

verb -mies, -mying or -mied (intr)

  1. to dance the shimmy
  2. to vibrate or wobble

v.“do a suggestive dance,” 1918, perhaps via phrase shake the shimmy, which is possibly from shimmy (n.), a U.S. dialectal form of chemise (mistaken as a plural; cf. shammy) first recorded 1837. Or perhaps the verb is related to shimmer (v.) via a notion of glistening light. Transferred sense of “vibration of a motor vehicle” is from 1925. Related: Shimmied; shimmying. As a noun, the name of a popular, fast, suggestive pre-flapper dance, by 1919.

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