shock
Forms
- Plural
- shocks
- present (v1)
- shock
- past (v2)
- shocked
- past participle (v3)
- shocked
- present participle
- shocking
- 3rd person singular
- shocks
Definitions
1.A sudden, heavy impact.
- Call an ambulance, he's in shock!
- Carl had a shock at what he found.
- The train hit the buffers with a great shock.
2.A discontinuity arising in the solution of a partial differential equation.
3.A chemical added to a swimming pool to moderate the chlorine levels.
4.A shock absorber (typically in the suspension of a vehicle).
- If your truck's been riding rough, it might need new shocks.
- At the rear, you'll find a single, centrally mounted shock, the now-familiar single-sided swingarm and BMW's Paralever shaft-drive system, which does away with most of a shafty's chassis-jacking bugaboos.
1.To strike with disgust, to offend, scandalize.
2.To cause to be emotionally shocked; to cause (someone) to feel greatly surprised or upset.
- The disaster shocked the world.
3.To give an electric shock to.
1.Causing intense surprise, horror, etc.; unexpected and shocking.
- His shock announcement rocked the tennis world.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2616
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
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.