Swing vs. Shake — What's the Difference?

Move or cause to move back and forth or from side to side while suspended or on an axis

(of a structure or area of land) tremble or vibrate

Move by grasping a support from below and leaping

Move (an object) up and down or from side to side with rapid, forceful, jerky movements

Move or cause to move in a smooth, curving line

Upset the composure or confidence of; shock or astonish

Shift or cause to shift from one opinion, mood, or state of affairs to another

An act of shaking

Play music with a flowing but vigorous rhythm

A fit of trembling or shivering

(of an event, place, or way of life) be lively, exciting, or fashionable.

Short for milkshake

Engage in group sex or swap sexual partners within a group, especially on a habitual basis.

An earth tremor.

A seat suspended by ropes or chains, on which someone may sit and swing back and forth.

A trill.

An act of swinging

A kind of rough wooden shingle, used especially on rustic buildings

A discernible change in opinion, especially the amount by which votes or points scored change from one side to another

To cause to move from side to side or up and down with jerky movements

A style of jazz or dance music with a flowing but vigorous rhythm.

To cause to tremble, vibrate, or rock

A swift tour involving a number of stops, especially one undertaken as part of a political campaign.

To brandish or wave, especially in anger

(in musical theatre) an understudy, typically one who covers multiple roles in the chorus of a particular production.

To cause to lose stability or strength, as of conviction

To move back and forth suspended or as if suspended from above.

To disturb or agitate emotionally; upset or unnerve

To hit at something with a sweeping motion of the arm

To remove or dislodge by jerky movements

To move laterally or in a curve

To scatter or strew by jerky movements

To turn in place on or as if on a hinge or pivot.

To get rid of or put an end to

To move along with an easy, swaying gait

To get away from (a pursuer)

To propel oneself from one place or position to another by grasping a fixed support

To bring to a specified condition by or as if by shaking

To ride on a swing.

To clasp (hands) in greeting or leave-taking or as a sign of agreement.

To shift from one attitude, interest, condition, or emotion to another; vacillate.

(Music) To trill (a note).

(Slang) To be put to death by hanging.

(Games) To rattle and mix (dice) before casting.

To have a subtle, intuitively felt rhythm or sense of rhythm.

To move from side to side or up and down in short, irregular, often jerky movements

To play with a subtle, intuitively felt sense of rhythm.

To move something vigorously up and down or from side to side, as in mixing.

To be lively, trendy, and exciting.

To tremble, as from cold or in anger.

To engage in promiscuous sex.

To be unsteady; totter or waver.

To exchange sex partners. Used especially of married couples.

(Music) To trill.

To have a sexual orientation

To shake hands

To cause to move back and forth, as on a swing.

The act of shaking

To cause to move in a broad arc or curve

A trembling or quivering movement.

To cause to move with a sweeping motion

(Informal) An earthquake.

To lift and convey with a sweeping motion

A fissure in rock.

To suspend so as to sway or turn freely

A crack in timber caused by wind or frost.

To suspend on hinges

(Informal) A moment or instant

To cause to turn on hinges

(Music) A trill.

To cause to shift from one attitude, position, opinion, or condition to another.

See milkshake.

To manage or arrange successfully

A beverage in which the ingredients are mixed by shaking.

To bring around to the desired result

A rough shingle used to cover rustic buildings, such as barns

(Music) To play (music) with a subtle, intuitively felt sense of rhythm.

Shakes(Informal) Uncontrollable trembling, as in a person who is cold, frightened, feverish, or ill. Often used with the

The act or an instance of swinging; movement back and forth or in one particular direction.

(Informal) A bargain or deal

The sweep or scope of something that swings

To cause (something) to move rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly.

A blow or stroke executed with a sweeping motion of the arm.

(transitive) To move (one's head) from side to side, especially to indicate refusal, reluctance, or disapproval.

The manner in which one swings something, such as a bat or golf club.

(transitive) To move or remove by agitating; to throw off by a jolting or vibrating motion.

A shift from one attitude, position, or condition to another

(transitive) To disturb emotionally; to shock.

Freedom of action

(transitive) To lose, evade, or get rid of (something).

A swaying, graceful motion

(intransitive) To move from side to side.

A sweep back and forth

To shake hands.

A course or tour that returns to the starting point

(intransitive) To dance.

A seat suspended from above, as by ropes, on which one can ride back and forth for recreation.

To give a tremulous tone to; to trill.

The normal rhythm of life or pace of activities

To threaten to overthrow.

A steady, vigorous rhythm or movement, as in verse.

To be agitated; to lose firmness.

A regular movement up or down, as in stock prices.

The act of shaking or being shaken; tremulous or back-and-forth motion.

A type of popular dance music developed about 1935 and based on jazz but employing a larger band, less improvisation, and simpler harmonic and rhythmic patterns.

A twitch, a spasm, a tremor.

A ballroom dance performed to this music.

A milkshake.

A subtle, intuitively felt rhythmic quality or sense of rhythm.

A beverage made by adding ice cream to a (usually carbonated) drink; a float.

(Music) Relating to or performing swing

Shake cannabis, small, leafy fragments of cannabis that gather at the bottom of a bag of marijuana.

Determining an outcome; decisive

An adulterant added to cocaine powder.

(intransitive) To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.

(building material) A thin shingle.

(intransitive) To dance.

A crack or split between the growth rings in wood.

(intransitive) To ride on a swing.

A fissure in rock or earth.

(intransitive) To participate in the swinging lifestyle; to participate in wife-swapping.

A basic wooden shingle made from split logs, traditionally used for roofing etc.

(intransitive) To hang from the gallows; to be punished by hanging, swing for something or someone; (often hyperbolic) to be severely punished.

(informal) Instant, second. (Especially in two shakes.)

To move sideways in its trajectory.

(nautical) One of the staves of a hogshead or barrel taken apart.

To make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.

(music) A rapid alternation of a principal tone with another represented on the next degree of the staff above or below it; a trill.

(intransitive) To fluctuate or change.

(music) In singing, notes (usually high ones) sung vibrato.

(transitive) To move (an object) backward and forward; to wave.

A shook of staves and headings.

(transitive) To change (a numerical result); especially to change the outcome of an election.

The redshank, so called from the nodding of its head while on the ground.

(transitive) To make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially.

A shock or disturbance.

To play notes that are in pairs by making the first of the pair slightly longer than written (augmentation) and the second shorter, resulting in a bouncy, uneven rhythm.

To cause to move with quick or violent vibrations; to move rapidly one way and the other; to make to tremble or shiver; to agitate.

To move one's arm in a punching motion.

Fig.: To move from firmness; to weaken the stability of; to cause to waver; to impair the resolution of.

(transitive) In dancing, to turn around in a small circle with one's partner, holding hands or arms.

To give a tremulous tone to; to trill; as, to shake a note in music.

To admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it; said of a lathe.

To move or remove by agitating; to throw off by a jolting or vibrating motion; to rid one's self of; - generally with an adverb, as off, out, etc.; as, to shake fruit down from a tree.

To put (a door, gate, etc.) on hinges so that it can swing or turn.

To be agitated with a waving or vibratory motion; to tremble; to shiver; to quake; to totter.

(nautical) To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor.

The act or result of shaking; a vacillating or wavering motion; a rapid motion one way and other; a trembling, quaking, or shivering; agitation.

The manner in which something is swung.

A fissure or crack in timber, caused by its being dried too suddenly.

The sweep or compass of a swinging body.

A fissure in rock or earth.

A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.

A rapid alternation of a principal tone with another represented on the next degree of the staff above or below it; a trill.

A hanging seat in a children's playground, for acrobats in a circus, or on a porch for relaxing.

One of the staves of a hogshead or barrel taken apart.

A dance style.

A shook of staves and headings.

(music) The genre of music associated with this dance style.

The redshank; - so called from the nodding of its head while on the ground.

The amount of change towards or away from something.

Building material used as siding or roofing

(politics) In an election, the increase or decrease in the number of votes for opposition parties compared with votes for the incumbent party.

Frothy drink of milk and flavoring and sometimes fruit or ice cream

(cricket) Sideways movement of the ball as it flies through the air.

A note that alternates rapidly with another note a semitone above it

Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.

Grasping and shaking a person's hand (as to acknowledge an introduction or to agree on a contract)

In a musical theater production, a performer who understudies several roles.

Reflex shaking caused by cold or fear or excitement

A basic dance step in which a pair link hands and turn round together in a circle.

Causing to move repeatedly from side to side

(obsolete) Free course; unrestrained liberty.

Move or cause to move back and forth;

Influence or power of anything put in motion.

Move with or as if with a tremor;

(boxing) A type of hook with the arm more extended.

Shake or vibrate rapidly and intensively;

To move to and fro, as a body suspended in the air; to wave; to vibrate; to oscillate.

Move back and forth or sideways;

To sway or move from one side or direction to another; as, the door swung open.

Undermine or cause to waver;

To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor; as, a ship swings with the tide.

Stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of;

To be hanged.

Get rid of;

To cause to swing or vibrate; to cause to move backward and forward, or from one side to the other.

Bring to a specified condition by or as if by shaking;

To give a circular movement to; to whirl; to brandish; as, to swing a sword; to swing a club; hence, colloquially, to manage; as, to swing a business.

Shake (a body part) to communicate a greeting, feeling, or cognitive state;

To admit or turn (anything) for the purpose of shaping it; - said of a lathe; as, the lathe can swing a pulley of 12 inches diameter.

The act of swinging; a waving, oscillating, or vibratory motion of a hanging or pivoted object; oscillation; as, the swing of a pendulum.

Swaying motion from one side or direction to the other; as, some men walk with a swing.

A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing; especially, an apparatus for recreation by swinging, commonly consisting of a rope, the two ends of which are attached overhead, as to the bough of a tree, a seat being placed in the loop at the bottom; also, any contrivance by which a similar motion is produced for amusement or exercise.

Influence of power of a body put in swaying motion.

Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.

Free course; unrestrained liberty or license; tendency.

A state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity;

Mechanical device used as a plaything to support someone swinging back and forth

A sweeping blow or stroke;

Changing location by moving back and forth

A style of jazz played by big bands popular in the 1930s; flowing rhythms but less complex than later styles of jazz

A jaunty rhythm in music

The act of swinging a golf club at a golf ball and (usually) hitting it

In baseball; a batter's attempt to hit a pitched ball;

A square dance figure; a pair of dancers join hands and dance around a point between them

Move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting;

Move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner;

Change direction with a swinging motion; turn;

Influence decisively;

Make a big sweeping gesture or movement

Hang freely;

Hit or aim at with a sweeping arm movement;

Alternate dramatically between high and low values;

Live in a lively, modern, and relaxed style;

Have a certain musical rhythm;

Be a social swinger; socialize a lot

Play with a subtle and intuitively felt sense of rhythm

Engage freely in promiscuous sex, often with the husband or wife of one's friends;