shaky

«shaky» in Mova's school dictionary: Shaking or trembling, often because of fear, cold… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (shaky, shakier, shakiest); adverb: shakily

meaning for a pupil

1) Shaking or trembling, often because of fear, cold, illness or weakness (shaky hands, a shaky voice). tree →

2) Not firm or steady; likely to fall or break (a shaky ladder). tree →

3) Not certain, strong or good (shaky spelling, a shaky start). tree →

4) In some dialects, shaky is used as a verb meaning to shake. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life and safety: don't stand on shaky chairs or ladders; a shaky bridge or shelf may collapse. In feelings lessons, a shaky voice or legs show nerves or fear (before a performance). In school, «my times tables are a bit shaky» means not yet secure. In stories it builds tension. Phrases: shaky hands, shaky voice, on shaky ground, a shaky start.

examples

• My hands were shaky before I read my poem. tree →
• Don't stand on that shaky chair. tree →
• The old bridge looked shaky, so we didn't cross it. tree →
• Her voice was shaky because she was nervous. tree →
• My division is still a bit shaky. tree →
• After being ill, Grandpa's legs felt shaky. tree →
• The team had a shaky start but won the game. tree →

note

Comparative: shakier, shakiest (y → i). From the verb «shake». «On shaky ground» = not sure, could be wrong.

In the corpora

• Nerves make breath short and the voice shaky, even in good singers; slow breathing before singing helps calm the voice.
• Going without food or water for a long time makes you shaky, slow to think and more likely to have accidents.
• The tone of a voice — loud, quiet, shaky or flat — can show how someone feels.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «shaky» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.