shimmy

4 definitions • 5 examples

to do a dance in which you shake your hips and shoulders:

She shimmied across the dance floor.

to climb smoothly up, down, or along something by holding it tightly with your arms and legs:

He could shimmy up a drainpipe with ease.

Workers on the roof shimmied down ladders.

to move up and down and from side to side with small, quick movements, especially in order to put on or take off clothes:

Every woman has had that moment of elation when she shimmies into something a size smaller than usual.

She shimmied out of that brown dress while her daughter was still fiddling with buttons.

If a car shimmies, it makes a very light shaking movement that is not the usual movement of the car.