Dictionary

boneshaker en · NOUN

Etymology

From bone + shaker, from the uncomfortableness of the ride.

Meanings

1. A velocipede (the bicycle of the late 1860s).
   • The man named Honeysett had ridden off on an old boneshaker of his to fetch the engines. 1905, E. Nesbit, “The arsenicators”, in Oswald Bastable and Others:
2. Something jolty.
   • As this was my third journey on these boneshakers I am beginning to think there must be some very serious fault in their design. 1959 December, “Letters to the Editor: The riding of S.R. multiple-units”, in Trains Illustrated, page 628:
   • a boneshaker of a journey
   • The car was a real boneshaker.

Forms