Meaning of Idiom ‘Shake a Leg’
1. Shake a leg is used to tell someone to move quickly; hurry up; do not dawdle; get going.
2. To dance, especially energetically (becoming archaic)
Sentence Examples
“He loved to get out on the floor and shake a leg.”
“Shake a leg! If we don’t get going we’ll be late for the wedding!”
“Ricky, you’d better shake a leg if you don’t want to miss the school bus.”
“Okay everyone, shake a leg. We have a lot of stuff to see at the museum today,” said the teacher.
Origin
Used since the first part of the 1800s. The first meaning, to dance, is transparent since dancing often involves moving one’s legs in different ways and could be described as ‘shaking’ a leg. The second meaning is probably an extension of the first, as to shake a leg is to dance and move energetically.
