shakedown : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: shakedown	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for shakedown
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
shakedown adj intended to test a new system under operating conditions and to familiarize the operators with the system; "a shakedown cruise" n initial adjustments to improve the functioning or the efficiency and to bring to a more satisfactory state; "the new industry's economic shakedown" a very thorough search of a person or a place; "a shakedown by the police uncovered the drugs" extortion of money (as by blackmail)
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Shakedown \Shake"down`\, n. A temporary substitute for a bed, as one made on the floor or on chairs; -- perhaps originally from the shaking down of straw for this purpose. --Sir W. Scott.