noun
- a vehicle, especially an old car or bicycle, that is uncomfortable to ride in because it shakes or jolts a lot
- an early bicycle with solid tires and a rigid frame, popular in the 1870s
Usage: informal; often humorous or derogatory
Usage: historical
Examples
- My grandfather's old truck was a real boneshaker—every bump in the road felt like an earthquake.
- She drove that boneshaker of a car for ten years before finally buying something reliable.
- The boneshaker bicycles of the Victorian era were notorious for being uncomfortable.
- Riding in his boneshaker down the pothole-filled street was an adventure.
- That ancient boneshaker barely made it up the hill.
- The museum had a display of vintage boneshakers from the 1870s.