shaken down

verb

past participle of shake down
as in cheated
to rob by the use of trickery or threats the rumor is that he started his career shaking people down as an enforcer for the mob

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of shaken down Law firms are shaken down into submission. — Christopher Bouzy, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shaken down
  1. cheated
  2. squeezed
  3. plucked
  4. stung
  5. beaten
  6. ripped off
  7. stuck
  8. done
Verb
  • As Gabe yells that Morgan cheated and broke up the family, a grin starts to spread across Nick’s and Serena’s faces.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The Dubas front office cheated for offence in a sense too, deciding to buck the trend by building from centre ice backwards and not drafting/developing top d-men.
    — James Mirtle, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of cheated
Verb
  • In Malabo, Bioko’s biggest city, a team of men and women equipped with insecticide sprayers squeezed between low-rise cement buildings on a recent morning, as heavy rain drummed on aluminum roofs.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Elevated borrowing rates and refinancing challenges (registration required) have squeezed an already difficult landscape for development financing.
    — Jill Jones, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of squeezed
Verb
  • During fall, a train window serves as the perfect perch for leaf-peeping in river valleys aglow in crimson and gold or passing through small towns that look like they’ve been plucked from a Hallmark movie.
    — Lauren Dana Ellman, Midwest Living, 15 Oct. 2026
  • As the party winded down, guests plucked final bites off silver platters and marveled at how tall Skarsgård truly is in person—his nearly six-foot-five frame barely fit under the bar’s low ceilings.
    — Kenneal Patterson, Vanity Fair, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of plucked
Verb
  • All of a sudden, Bass was a staggering champion lunging at a revived Raman, who swung and stung and ducked the way only a hungry up-and-comer can.
    — Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The loss to Ole Miss three weeks ago stung, but was not unexpected.
    — Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of stung
Verb
  • Slemmer was beaten and cut with a meat cleaver and a box cutter for somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
  • On the afternoon of Game 4, with the New York Yankees looking to beat Derek Lowe and sweep the Sox, Boston’s Kevin Millar stepped on the field at Fenway Park and issued a warning.
    — Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of beaten
Verb
  • Coach Dan Quinn ripped off his headset and slammed it to the ground.
    — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The nosedive was so swift that a large part of the plane’s rudder was ripped off the tail.
    — Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of ripped off
Verb
  • As such, the greatest obstacle to genuine transformation is getting stuck in the planning cycle.
    — Jeff DeGraff, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Walking into a room to do some task or other, they’ll get stuck obsessively staring at the door hinges.
    — Meghan O’Gieblyn, The New York Review of Books, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of stuck
Verb
  • The Golden Globes will also be done and dusted with its 2027 ceremony set for January 10.
    — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Getting things done is not the same as leading people, managing performance, holding a team accountable and driving the business forward.
    — Ken Paskins, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of done

Browse Nearby Words

shaken a leg
shaken down
shaken (off)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shaken down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shaken%20down. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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