shake up

shake someone or something up

to jostle or knock someone or something around; to toss someone or something back and forth. We rode over a rough road, and that shook us up. The accident shook up John quite a bit.

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shake someone up

to shock or upset someone. The sight of the injured man shook me up. Your rude remark really shook up Tom.

See also: shake, up

shake something up

1. Lit. to shake a container to mix its contents together well. Please shake this up before using it. I shook up the medicine bottle like it says on the label.

2. Fig. to reorganize a group or organization, not always in a gentle way. The new manager shook the office up and made things run a lot better. The coach shook the team up before the last game and made them better organized.

See also: shake, up

shake up somebody also shake somebody up

to upset someone The kids were pretty shaken up by the accident. Patrick's death shook me up pretty badly.

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shake up something also shake something up

to cause big changes in a situation or organization The company announced that it would shake up top management and cut 1,000 jobs. Every new boss likes to shake things up a bit when they take over.

See also: shake, up

References in periodicals archive	?		Idioms browser	?		Full browser	?
That's what we've got to get across," says the man charged with one of the biggest shake ups of business support services that Teesside has seen in a long while. Support service on the right road; Business & financial advice by Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough, England) Last night he said he did not anticipate any big shake ups in the business he has worked in for nearly four decades. I won't rock the boat by Daily Post (Liverpool, England) Big shocks and shake ups will be followed by brilliant successes between June and September, but he must watch for a foot injury while training in mid-July. STAR BIRTHDAY; Boxer Prince Naseem's future was always set to pack a ... by Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland)	shadow shadow of oneself shady shady character shady deal shaft shag shagged out shaggy shaggy-dog Story shake shake a disease or illness off shake a leg Shake a leg! shake down shake hand shake hands shake head shake in boots shake it shake like a leaf shake off shake on shake out shake the foundations of shake up shaker shall Shall I be mother? shame shame of it shame on shame on you shank shank it shank's mare Shanks's pony shape shape up Shape up or ship out share share and share alike share pain share sorrow sharp sharp as a razor sharp as a tack sharp tongue sharp wit shave she	shake like a leaf shake like a leaf shake like a leaf shake off shake off shake off shake off shake on shake one’s faith shake out shake out shake out shake out shake out Shake Outs Shake Outs Shake Outs shake someone's hand shake something down shake table shake test shake the dust off feet shake the dust off feet shake the dust off feet shake the foundations of shake the habit Shake the hand Shake the hand shake the lead out shake to its foundations shake up shake wave Shake Well before Use shake-out shake-out shake-out shake-outs shake-outs shake-outs Shake-speare Shake-speare shake-table test shake-up shake-ups shakeable shakeable shakeable shakedown shakedown Shakedown (disambiguation) Shakedown (disambiguation) shakedown test shakedowns shakedowns Shakefork Shakehole Shakehole shaken shaken shaken shaken

References in periodicals archive

Idioms browser

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That's what we've got to get across," says the man charged with one of the biggest shake ups of business support services that Teesside has seen in a long while.

Support service on the right road; Business & financial advice by Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough, England)

Last night he said he did not anticipate any big shake ups in the business he has worked in for nearly four decades.

I won't rock the boat by Daily Post (Liverpool, England)

Big shocks and shake ups will be followed by brilliant successes between June and September, but he must watch for a foot injury while training in mid-July.

STAR BIRTHDAY; Boxer Prince Naseem's future was always set to pack a ... by Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland)