shock
UK /ʃɒk/ · US /ʃɔk/ noun, adjective, verb, proper noun
Also a form of shuck
Forms shocks shocking shocked choque
- noun (countable) A sudden, heavy impact. “The train hit the buffers with a great shock.”
- noun (countable, figuratively) Something so surprising that it is stunning. “My mother's news was a shock I still haven't recovered from.”
- noun (countable, psychology) A sudden or violent emotional disturbance. “Carl had a shock at what he found.”
- noun (countable) An experience that leaves someone shaken; a very surprising, exhilarating or amazing experience. “The surprising blast of cold water on my face was a tremendous shock.”
- noun (countable, medicine) Electric shock, a sudden burst of electrical energy hitting a person or animal. “We gave him a couple shocks, but the patient passed away anywway.”
- noun (countable, neurology) The stimulation of nerves and convulsive contraction of muscles caused by electrical current flowing through a body.
- noun (uncountable, psychology) A state of distress following a mental or emotional disturbance, often caused by news or other stimuli. “Fans were in shock in the days following the singer's death.”
- noun (uncountable, medicine) Circulatory shock, a medical emergency characterized by the inability of the circulatory system to supply enough oxygen to meet tissue requirements. “Call an ambulance, he's in shock!”
- adjective Causing intense surprise, horror, etc.; unexpected and shocking. “His shock announcement rocked the tennis world.”
- verb (transitive) To cause to be emotionally shocked; to cause (someone) to feel greatly surprised or upset. “The disaster shocked the world.”
- verb (transitive) To strike with disgust, to offend, scandalize.
- verb (transitive) To give an electric shock to.
- verb (transitive) To subject to a shock wave or violent impact. “Ammonium nitrate can detonate if severely shocked.”
- verb (obsolete, intransitive) To meet with a shock; to collide in a violent encounter.
- verb (transitive, cooking) To cook something very briefly in a hot liquid, then immediately submerge it in ice water to stop the cooking process. “Can you shock the spinach over there?”
- verb (transitive) To add a chemical to (a swimming pool) to moderate the chlorine levels.
- verb (geology, transitive) To deform the crystal structure of a stone by the application of extremely high pressure at moderate temperature, as produced only by hypervelocity impact events, lightning strikes, and nuclear explosions.
- noun An arrangement of sheaves for drying; a stook.
- noun (commerce, dated) A lot consisting of sixty pieces; a term applied in some Baltic ports to loose goods.
- noun (by extension) A tuft or bunch of something, such as hair or grass. “His head boasted a shock of sandy hair.”
Synonyms
amazement astonishment awe bewilderment flabbergast flabbergastation flabbergastment stupefaction surprise shocking surprising shatter mop daze stupor impact electric shock electrical shock seismic disturbance blow jolt jar jounce shock absorber cushion floor ball over blow out of the water take aback offend
Etymology
From Middle Dutch schokken (“to push, jolt, shake, jerk”) or Middle French choquer (“to collide with, clash”), from Old Dutch *skokkan (“to shake up and down, shog”), from Proto-Germanic *skukkaną (“to move, shake, tremble”). Of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skakaną (“to shake, stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kek-, *(s)keg- (“to shake, stir”); see shake.
Cognate with Middle Low German schocken (“collide with, deliver a blow to, move back and forth”), Old High German scoc (“a jolt, swing”), Middle High German schocken (“to swing”) (German schaukeln), Old Norse skykkr (“vibration, surging motion”), Icelandic skykkjun (“tremulously”), Middle English schiggen (“to shake”). Doublet of shog.
Inherited from Middle English schok, from Old English *sċoc or Middle Low German schok; in any case, from Proto-West Germanic *skok and possibly related to Latvian kàudze and Lithuanian kiūgis.
* As an English surname, variant of Shuck.
* As a German surname, Americanized from Schock, itself a variant of Scheck, or from the sense Schock (“heap”). Compare Schoch.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A pile or assemblage of sheaves of grain, as wheat, rye, or the like, set up in a field, the sheaves varying in number from twelve to sixteen; a stook.
- noun A lot consisting of sixty pieces; --a term applied in some Baltic ports to loose goods.
- verb To collect, or make up, into a shock or shocks; to stook; as, to shock rye.
- verb To be occupied with making shocks.
Etymology [OE. schokke; cf. OD schocke, G. schock a heap, quantity, threescore, MHG. schoc, Sw. skok, and also G. hocke a heap of hay, Lith. kugis.]
Etymology [Cf. D. schok a bounce, jolt, or leap, OHG. scoc a swing, MHG. schoc, Icel. skykkjun tremuously, F. choc a shock, collision, a dashing or striking against, Sp. choque, It. ciocco a log. sq. root161. Cf. Shock to shake.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “shock”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details