shimmy
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shimmy
- /ˈʃɪ.mi/
Rhymes with -ɪmi
Where it comes from
A back-formation from chemise (mistaken for a plural).
noun shimmies
- A dance move involving thrusting the shoulders back and forth alternately. What is certain, however, is that the president-elect’s signature shimmy is currently en vogue with all manner of professional athletes, imitated by at least five National Football League players on Sunday, […].
- A dance that was popular in the 1920s. The tango, the Texas Tommy, Walking the Dog, the one step, the fox trot, the shimmy, and all their out-growths, had their origin in the palaces of lust on the Barbary Coast of San Francisco.
- An abnormal vibration, especially in the wheels of a vehicle.
- A sleeveless chemise.
verb shimmies · shimmying · shimmied
- To perform a shimmy (dance movement involving thrusting the shoulders back and forth alternately). She wondered would he think her awful, and try to get fresh if she shimmied. Fellows often did. But he was so cute. And a girl had to something about that, and if she didn't shimmy, she might do something worse.
- To climb something (e.g. a pole) gradually (e.g. using alternately one's arms then one's legs). He shimmied up the flagpole.
- To vibrate abnormally, as a broken wheel. They came in among earth-moving machines, a total absence of trees, the usual hieratic geometry, and eventually, shimmying for the sand roads, down in a helix to a sculptured body of water named Lake Inverarity.
- To shake the body as if dancing the shimmy.
- To move across a narrow ledge, either by hanging from it or by strafing on it along the wall. Jump up to the ledge on your right and shimmy around the corner.
Translations
Talk about this word "shimmy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/shimmy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. shimmy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/shimmy "shimmy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/shimmy.Cite this
@misc{shimmy_2026,
title = {shimmy},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/shimmy},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
