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
Talmon Joseph Smith, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
The designer, who shed more than 60 pounds to shimmy into the slim tailoring by his great friend Hedi Slimane, also snapped up the designer’s minimalist furniture from 2007.
—Miles Socha, WWD, 4 Feb. 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
The bond market — where traders price the risk of both inflation and an economic downturn — has, for its part, shimmied off moments of worry brought on by Mr. Trump’s boomeranging style of negotiation over tariffs.
—Talmon Joseph Smith, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
The designer, who shed more than 60 pounds to shimmy into the slim tailoring by his great friend Hedi Slimane, also snapped up the designer’s minimalist furniture from 2007.
—Miles Socha, WWD, 4 Feb. 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 9 Mar. 2025.
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