shimmy

UK: /ˈʃɪmɪ/ US: /ˈʃɪmi/ ,(shim′ē)

Inflections of 'shimmy' (n): npl: shimmies

Inflections of 'shimmy' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

shimmies

v 3rd person singular

shimmying

v pres p

shimmied

v past

shimmied

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

shim•my /ˈʃɪmi/   n., pl. -mies, v., -mied, -my•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. Automotive too much wobbling in the front wheels of a motor vehicle.

v. [no object]

2. to shake, wobble, or vibrate:
   The car shimmied badly at speeds over 40 mph.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

shim•my  (shim′ē), n., pl. -mies, v., -mied, -my•ing. 
n. 

1. Music and Dance an American ragtime dance marked by shaking of the hips and shoulders.
2. Automotive excessive wobbling in the front wheels of a motor vehicle.
3. Clothing a chemise.

v.i. 

4. Music and Dance to dance the shimmy.
5. to shake, wobble, or vibrate.

• 1830–40, for def. 3; 1915–20 for def. 1; back formation and respelling, respelled of chemise, construed as a plural

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

shimmy, shimmey / ˈʃɪmɪ/ noun ( -mies)

1. an American ragtime dance with much shaking of the hips and shoulders
2. abnormal wobbling motion in a motor vehicle, esp in the front wheels or steering
3. an informal word for chemise

verb ( -mies, -mying, -mied)(intransitive)

1. to dance the shimmy
2. to vibrate or wobble

Etymology: 19th Century: changed from chemise, mistakenly assumed to be plural