Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. an ambitious and successful person, both socially and with the opposite sex; ext. as movers and shakers, movers and groovers; occas. therefore just as shaker n.

[1942		W. Pegler George Spelvin Chats 177: They made a very unfavorable impression on the hot-eyed world-shakers of the New Deal].
1955		B. Schulberg On the Waterfront (1964) 17: A step below them the local movers like Johnny F., then the lieutenants such as himself.
1961		H. Ellison Rockabilly (1963) 53: How about maybe we buy a piece of this kid, he smells like he’s gonna be a mover.
1966		T. Keyes All Night Stand 113: He’s like that you know, not much of a mover.
1973		G.V. Higgins Digger’s Game (1981) 35: The movers that don’t always go home at night.
1974		Time 22 Apr. 61/2: He had enormous influence among the movers and shakers in Washington.
1979		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 5: mover – sexually aggressive male.
1983		S. King Christine 434: Libertyville’s movers and shakers lived here.
1989		T. Blacker Fixx 82: One of London’s unofficial movers and shakers.
1995		S. Bell If... 2 Nov. in If Files (1997) 36: Are your parents movers and shakers and how much do they earn??
1999		N. Cohn Yes We Have No 52: A sharp dresser, a mover, quick with words.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 14: People who were movers and groovers on the arts scene, actors and actress, film-makers, musicians.
2000		Observer Screen 23 Jan. 27: Movers and shakers such as Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
2008		T. Piccirilli Fever Kill 74: You parents were top line shakers and you were born on Fifth Avenue.
2017		T. Spicer Good Girl Stripped Bare 114: I’m doing a series of docos on movers and shakers.

2. an attractive person, usu. female.

1963–74		B. Humphries Barry McKenzie [comic strip] in Complete Barry McKenzie (1988) 82: She’s a fast little mover.
1997		(con. 1970s) G. Pelecanos King Suckerman (1998) 39: You gotta admit, she’s a mover.

3. the person in charge.

1952		W.R. Burnett Little Men, Big World 50: The Mover had said that to him once, and the Mover was right, as he always was.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 115: He says the top mover from this side was a guy called Duke.

4. (US drugs) a drug trafficker [move v. (5)].

1978

R. Daley Prince of the City 298: The four detectives had been trying to make a case against Manuel Noa, another major narcotics mover.