quake
quaking; quaked; quakes
When you quake, you tremble and shiver. A scary sound in a dark basement might make you quake.
To quake is to move rapidly back and forth, so quickly that the movement is almost a vibration. If you've ever felt the floor quake during an actual earthquake, you know the fluttery, shaking kind of movement. A person can quake with fear, and a building can quake during a wind storm. You can also use the word quake as a noun, to describe the feeling itself. The Old English root is cwacian, or "tremble or clatter of teeth."
Definitions of quake
-
shake with fast, tremulous movements
-
shake with seismic vibrations
-
shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane of from volcanic activity
-
synonyms:
earthquake, seism, temblor
-
types:
- show 5 types...
- hide 5 types...
-
seismic disturbance, shock
an instance of agitation of the earth's crust
-
earth tremor, microseism, tremor
a small earthquake
-
seaquake, submarine earthquake
an earthquake at the sea bed
-
aftershock
a tremor (or one of a series of tremors) occurring after the main shock of an earthquake
-
foreshock
a tremor preceding an earthquake
-
type of:
-
geological phenomenon
a natural phenomenon involving the structure or composition of the earth
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘quake'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
Send us feedback
Word Family
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Look up quake for the last time
Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the words you need to know.
