Definition of "shakedown" [shake•down]

• Slang Extortion of money, as by blackmail. (noun)
• Slang A thorough search of a place or person. (noun)
• A period of appraisal followed by adjustments to improve efficiency or functioning. (noun)
• Serving to test the performance of a ship or aircraft and to familiarize the crew with operation of the craft: a shakedown cruise; a shakedown flight. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "There is a second definition of the term "shakedown" in the dictionary, which I never saw until I decided to try to figure out what the Republican representative could mean."
• "I have to confess, I don't know of any definition of the word "shakedown" that fits, in with the esteemed representative offering money before and after going there being a victim."
• "The first was our previously announced shutdown in April to do what we call a shakedown analysis of our new sevoflurane line."