shimmy

English

A back-formation from chemise (mistaken for a plural).

shimmy (plural shimmies)

dance movement

dance that was popular in the 1920s

abnormal vibration, especially in the wheels of a vehicle

sleeveless chemise

shimmy (third-person singular simple present shimmies, present participle shimmying, simple past and past participle shimmied)

(dance) To perform a shimmy (dance movement involving thrusting the shoulders back and forth alternately).
- 1934 James T. Farrell, The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan, Ch. 13:
  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.

The static made her dress shimmy up her leg.
(intransitive) To vibrate abnormally, as a broken wheel.
- 1966, Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49, New York: Bantam Books, published 1976, →ISBN, page 37:
  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.
(intransitive, rare) To shake the body as if dancing the shimmy.
(intransitive, video games) To move across a narrow ledge, either by hanging from it or by strafing on it along the wall.
- 2009, Allison Schubert, Lunabean.com's Videogame Guides of 2008: Adventure 3-Pack
  Jump up to the ledge on your right and shimmy around the corner.
- 1999, Prima Development, The Big Playstation Book:
  Climb on top of the room and drop down to shimmy along its back ledge.

to perform a shimmy (dance movement)

to climb something (e.g. a pole) gradually

to vibrate abnormally, as a broken wheel

to shake the body as if dancing the shimmy

shimmy m (plural shimmys)