: an act or instance of shaking up
specifically
: an extensive and often drastic reorganization
shook up; shaken up; shaking up; shakes up
2
: to jar by or as if by a physical shock
the collision shook up both drivers
3
: to effect an extensive and often drastic reorganization of
Examples of shake-up in a Sentence
Verb
the news that we had failed the auto inspection shook us up
Recent Examples on the Web
Dominick Mastrangelo, The Hill, 4 Dec. 2024
But the outcome of the election didn't cause a shake-up in Democratic leadership, with the top posts remaining unchanged.
—Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 3 Dec. 2024
Sam Meredith, CNBC, 28 Nov. 2024
Trump’s previous choices to lead public health agencies — including Kennedy, Dr. Mehmet Oz for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator and Dr. Marty Makary for FDA commissioner — have all been Washington outsiders who are vowing to shake up the agencies.
—Carla K. Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for shake-up 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
Signals from President-elect Trump’s team that a shake-up of the White House press briefing room could be coming are roiling journalists preparing to cover his second term.
—Dominick Mastrangelo, The Hill, 4 Dec. 2024
But the outcome of the election didn't cause a shake-up in Democratic leadership, with the top posts remaining unchanged.
—Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 3 Dec. 2024
Verb
President-elect Donald Trump on Monday vowed to impose steep tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico in one of his first acts in office, threatening to shake up the auto industry’s supply chains and raising investor concerns about higher costs.
—Sam Meredith, CNBC, 28 Nov. 2024
Trump’s previous choices to lead public health agencies — including Kennedy, Dr. Mehmet Oz for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator and Dr. Marty Makary for FDA commissioner — have all been Washington outsiders who are vowing to shake up the agencies.
—Carla K. Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for shake-up
Dictionary Entries Near shake-up
Cite this Entry
“Shake-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shake-up. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share