{i} style of jazz dance from the 1920s characterized by rhythmic shaking of the shoulders and hips; abnormal vibration (in the tires of a vehicle, etc.)
lively dancing (usually to ragtime music) with much shaking of the shoulders and hips an abnormal wobble in a motor vehicle (especially in the fromt wheels); "he could feel the shimmy in the steering wheel"
If you shimmy, you dance or move in a way that involves shaking your hips and shoulders from side to side. Dancers shimmied in the streets of New Orleans. to move forwards or backwards while also quickly moving slightly from side to side (shimmy type of dance (1900-2000), perhaps from shimmy (19-20 centuries), from chemise)
A shimmy is a rapid side to side shaking of the front wheels Shimmies are usually caused by one of the following: a bent rim; a shifted belt in a tire (causing one steel belt to slide sideways on top of the other belt, causing a wave in the tread); a loose steering linkage component; a loose suspension component; or a loose halfshaft or CV joint If the shimmy occurs while cruising, the cause is usually due to a faulty steering or suspension component If the shimmy only occurs under acceleration, then it is usually attributed to a faulty drivetrain component such as a halfshaft or CV joint Finally, if the shimmy is constant from a dead stop and intensifies with speed, then the technician should look for a bent rim or a shifted belt in a tire A good inspection of the above mentioned components usually exposes the cause of a shimmy