shakedown

/ˈʃeɪkdaʊn/

Etymology

Deverbal from shake down. An improvised bed would originally have been made by shaking down straw.

adj

  1. That tests the performance of a ship or aircraft.

noun

  1. Extortion, especially through blackmail“What is this, a shakedown?”
  2. A thorough search; a frisk
  3. A trial or test period, especially of a ship or aircraft.“It was planning to use an '807' for one day only as part of a shakedown test, ahead of the fleet's formal entry to service which is currently planned for November.”
  4. An improvised bed.“All sorts of gossip floated about; one story told was that a selector, and not the youngest of that staid and sober party, was found putting his boots into his shakedown at night, and lying outside the entrance of his tent, giving careful directions to some one to call him in time for the morning mail.”