english
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Phrase(s): shake someone up
to shock or upset someone. • The sight of the injured man shook me up. • Your rude remark really shook up Tom., Phrase(s): 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., Phrase(s): 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.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
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1. Agitate in order to mix or loosen, as in This cough medicine needs to be thoroughly shaken up, or Please shake up these pillows. 2. Upset greatly, as in Even though no one was hurt, he was greatly shaken up by the accident. This usage alludes to being agitated like a liquid being shaken. Also see ALL SHOOK UP. [Late 1800s] 3. Subject to drastic rearrangement or reorganization, as in New management was bent on shaking up each division.
American Heritage Idioms
3
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noun ADJ. big, major, radical | urgent | boardroom, council, personnel VERB + SHAKE-UP need | call for The paper calls for an urgent shake-up in the system for looking after the elderly. | plan The headline read ‘Local council plans shake-up’. | face, go through, have, undergo Police forces face the biggest shake-up in their 150-year history. | survive My job did not survive the shake-up. PREP. in a/the ~ the posts that were scrapped in the recent shake-up | ~ at a major shake-up at the company | ~ in a radical shake-up in the chemical industry
Oxford Collocations Dictionary