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quake

noun
/kweɪk/US

Etymology

From Middle English quaken, from Old English cwacian (“to quake, tremble, chatter”), from Proto-Germanic *kwakōną (“to shake, quiver, tremble”), itself likely of imitative origin. Related to Old English cweċċan (“to shake, swing, move, vibrate, shake off, give up”) (see quitch), Dutch kwakkelen (“to ail, be ailing”), German Quackelei (“chattering”), Danish kvakle (“to bungle”), Latin vexō (“toss, shake violently, jostle, vex”), Irish bogadh (“a move, movement, shift, change”).

  1. inherited from *kwakōną✻ — “to shake, quiver, tremble”
  2. inherited from cwacian — “to quake, tremble, chatter”
  3. inherited from quaken

Definitions

  1. A trembling or shaking.

    • We felt a quake in the apartment every time the train went by.

  2. An earthquake, a trembling of the ground with force.

    • California is plagued by quakes; there are a few minor ones almost every month.
    • Well, everybody talks about the California quakes But the first time I ever felt the earth shake Was in Miami, when Amy touched me.

  3. Something devastating, like a strong earthquake.

    • But HS1 was more exposed to the COVID quake than most given its inherent reliance on international travel, which had collapsed, leaving cross-Channel operator Eurostar stacked with millions of debt.
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. To tremble or shake.

      • I felt the ground quaking beneath my feet.
      • Dorus threw Pamela behind a tree; where she stood quaking like the partridge on which the hawk is even ready to seize.
      • The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his presence.

    2. To be in a state of fear, shock, amazement, etc., such as might cause one to tremble.

      • If Cupid have not spent all his quiver in / Venice, thou wilt quake for this shortly.
      • Now could I drink hot blood / And do such bitter business as the bitter day / Would quake to look on.

    3. The 99th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

The neighborhood

Derived

afterquake, antiquake, aquake, cowquake, crustquake, fleshquake, genderquake, heartquake, icequake, megaquake, mercuryquake, microquake, mindquake, miniquake, mirthquake, quake grass, quake lake, quakeproof, quakesome, quaketail, quakey, quaky, seaquake, skyquake, spacequake, sunquake, superquake, Swift Quake, timequake, toquake, Trumpquake, venusquake, viewquake, waterquake, worldquake, youthquake, quakebreech, quakebuttock, quake in one's boots, quake in one's shoes · +4 more

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for quake. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA