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convulsively

To do something convulsively is to do it in an irregular, jerky way. If you can't help laughing convulsively during a friend's awkward speech, you'll be shaking with laughter.

Movements that are connected to actual convulsions — the involuntary, abnormal movement of the body's muscles — happen convulsively. Other things occur convulsively too, like hiccups and laughter and crying: "She sobbed convulsively when her dog ran away." The adverb convulsively comes from the verb convulse, which is rooted in the Latin convulsus, "pulled away" or "wrenched."

Definitions of convulsively
  1. adverb
    with convulsions, in a convulsive way
    “her leg twitched convulsively
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