shake hands

shake hands verb: to grasp another person's hands as an expression of greeting, farewell, agreement, etc.

Verb

shake hands (third-person singular simple present shakes hands, present participle shaking hands, simple past shook hands, past participle shaken hands)

To grasp another person's hands as an expression of greeting, farewell, agreement, etc.
- Gerald was enthusiastic. After a while they shook hands, it being time to separate. And for a long time Selwyn sat there alone in the visitors' room, absent-eyed, facing the blazing fire of cannel coal.1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter II, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
- If political calculation so required, he could pelt a man with mud one day and shake hands with him the next.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in...
(figuratively) To part, to say farewell.
- ⁠But thou and I have shaken hands,
  ⁠Till growing winters lay me low;
  ⁠My paths are in the fields I know,
  And thine in undiscover’d lands.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXIX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 61

shake hands (plural not attested)

(Ireland, no plural) an instance of shaking hands; a handshake
- Many a shake hands did I get from the neighbours’ sons, wishing me joy1834, William Carleton, "Shane Fadh's Wedding", Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, Volume 1, p.178 (W. F. Wakeman)
- He exchanged greetings with his rival, but their shake-hands was rather a cold one, and each looked the other askance, as if distrust was in their hearts.1909, Frederick Lawton, translation of Jules Verne, The Chase of the Golden Meteor, p.44 (London: Grant Richards)

More languagesFewer languages

It was the first time a Minister ever left the country without a ceremonial goodbye and a shake hands at the airport, with the tall hats being doffed.1967 July 27, Jack McQuillan, Livestock Marts Bill, 1967: Second Stage (Resumed). Seanad Debates, Vol.63 No.12 p.4 col.928
I wasn’t sure if it was goodbye, but as soon as I saw Terry I knew it was the last time I was going to see him, and the shake hands was the last shake hands I’d ever have with him.2015 February 1, Brian D'Arcy, quoted in Cork Examiner "Terry Wogan's friend Father Brian D'Arcy tells of their emotional final handshake"

third-person singular present	shakes hands
present participle	shaking hands
past	shook hands
past participle	shaken hands

What does shake hands mean?: Shake hands means to grasp another person's hands as an expression of greeting, farewell, agreement, etc.
What is shake hands in Hindi?: Shake hands in Hindi is हाथ दबाना (hāth dabānā). See Shake hands meaning in Hindi.
How do you use shake hands in a sentence?: It was the first time a Minister ever left the country without a ceremonial goodbye and a shake hands at the airport, with the tall hats being doffed.
What part of speech is shake hands?: Shake hands can be a verb or a noun.
What is the past tense of shake hands?: The past tense of shake hands is shook hands.

Adapted from Wiktionary: shake hands (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-shake hands.wav.

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