Rate this phrase:0.0 / 0 votes

shake a leg

a command to get busy, to get going, to do something quickly, to go faster, to move more hurriedly or to pick up pace

Etymology:

  • Used since the first part of the 1800s. The original meaning of shake a leg meant to dance, especially more energetically--literally moving/shaking your legs more. Later, shake a leg was used in the Navy as well and over time has come to mean move faster, get going, pick up the pace at whatever you are doing.
19 Views

Shake a leg! We haven't got all day.

Submitted on February 25, 2019

Modified by TriplePurple on April 11, 2024

Additional definitions for 'shake a leg':

shake a leghurry up
See them all »

Translation

Find a translation for the shake a leg phrase in other languages:

اهتز ساقك

mueve una pierna

पैर हिलाना

rázza meg a lábát

پاواں ہلاؤ

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to shake a leg

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this shake a leg phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this shake a leg definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "shake a leg." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/shake-a-leg_45015>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    A _____ in sheep’s clothing.
    A Wolf
    B Lamb
    C Lion
    D Bear