- shakedown (n.)
- also shake down, 1730, "impromptu bed made upon loose straw," from shake (v.) + down (adv.). Figurative verbal sense of "blackmail, extort" is attested from 1872, noun meaning "a thorough search" is from 1914; both probably from the notion of measuring corn. The verbal phrase to shake down "cause to totter and fall" is recorded from c.1400.