Meanings
nounboneshaker (plural boneshakers)
plural boneshakers
- 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 - Something jolty.
a boneshaker of a journey
2 more examples
The car was a real boneshaker.
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
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
From bone + shaker, from the uncomfortableness of the ride.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
boneshaker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boneshaker
MLA
“boneshaker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boneshaker. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “boneshaker,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boneshaker.
Source: boneshaker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.