Test Your Vocabulary

Take Our 10-Question Quiz

Name That Thing

Take our visual vocab quiz

Test Your Knowledge »

True or False?

A quick quiz about stuff worth knowing

Take It Now »

Join Us on FB & Twitter

Get the Word of the Day and More

Facebook | Twitter

convulse


con·vulse

verb \kən-ˈvəls\
con·vulsedcon·vuls·ing

Definition of CONVULSE

transitive verb
: to shake or agitate violently; especially : to shake with or as if with irregular spasms <was convulsed with laughter>
intransitive verb
: to become affected with convulsions

Examples of CONVULSE

  1. The patient reacted to the medication and began convulsing.
  2. The country was convulsed by war.

Origin of CONVULSE

Latin convulsus, past participle of convellere to pluck up, convulse, from com- + vellere to pluck — more at vulnerable
First Known Use: 1614

Other Medicine Terms

analgesia, angina, diabetes, hepatitis, homeopathy, logorrhea, palliate, pandemic

Rhymes with CONVULSE

Browse

Next Word in the Dictionary: convulsedly
Previous Word in the Dictionary: convulsant
All Words Near: convulse

Seen & Heard

What made you want to look up convulse? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).