convulse

con·vulse

transitive verb

-·vulsed′, -·vuls′ing

to shake or disturb violently; agitate
to cause convulsions, or spasms, in
to cause to shake as with laughter, rage, or grief

Origin of convulse

from Classical Latin convulsus, past participle of convellere, to tear loose from com-, together + vellere, to pluck: see revulsion

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MLA Style

"convulse." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Convulse>.

APA Style

convulse. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Convulse

convulse

verb

con·vulsed, con·vuls·ing, con·vuls·es

verb

transitive

To shake or agitate violently: tremors that convulsed the countryside. See Synonyms at agitate.
To disturb or upset severely: Strikes and riots convulsed the nation.
To affect with irregular and involuntary muscular contractions; throw into convulsions.
To cause to shake with laughter or strong emotion.

verb

intransitive

To become affected by convulsions; shake.
To be disturbed or upset: The region convulses with change.

Origin of convulse

Latin convellere convuls- to pull violently com- intensive pref. ; see com- . vellere to pull

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"convulse." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Convulse>.

APA Style

convulse. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Convulse

Verb

(third-person singular simple present convulses, present participle convulsing, simple past and past participle convulsed)

To violently shake or agitate.
To create great laughter.

Origin

From Latin convulsus, past participle of convellere (“to pluck up, dislocate, convulse”), from com- (“together”) + vellere (“to pluck, pull”)

For spelling, the -e (on -lse) is so the end is pronounced /ls/, rather than /lz/ as in gulls, and does not change the vowel (‘u’). Compare else, false, pulse.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.