Convulse

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Convulse \Con*vulse"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Convulsed}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Convulsing}.] [L. convulsus, p. p. of convellere to
     tear up, to shake; con- + vellere to pluck, pull.]
     1. To contract violently and irregulary, as the muscular
        parts of an animal body; to shake with irregular spasms,
        as in excessive laughter, or in agony from grief or pain.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              With emotions which checked his voice and convulsed
              his powerful frame.                   --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To agitate greatly; to shake violently.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The world is convulsed by the agonies of great
              nations.                              --Macaulay.
  
     Syn: To agitate; disturb; shake; tear; rend.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  convulse
       v 1: make someone convulse with laughter; "The comedian convulsed
            the crowd"
       2: be overcome with laughter
       3: move or stir about violently; "The feverish patient thrashed
          around in his bed" [syn: {thresh}, {thresh about}, {thrash},
           {thrash about}, {slash}, {toss}, {jactitate}]
       4: shake uncotrollably; "earthquakes convulsed the countryside"
       5: cause to contract; "The spasm convulses her facial muscles"
       6: contract involuntarily, as in a spasm; "The muscles in her
          face convulsed"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  119 Moby Thesaurus words for "convulse":
     afflict, agitate, agonize, ail, amuse, beat, beat up, beguile,
     bite, bloody, bug, burn, chafe, churn, churn up, claw, concuss,
     crucify, cut, delight, disarrange, discompose, disquiet, distract,
     distress, disturb, divert, embroil, enliven, entertain, excite,
     excruciate, exhilarate, ferment, fester, flurry, fracture one,
     fret, gall, give pain, gnaw, grate, grind, gripe, harrow, hurt,
     impale, inflame, inflict pain, irritate, kill, kill by inches,
     knock dead, lacerate, lancinate, loosen up, macerate, martyr,
     martyrize, nip, paddle, pain, perturb, perturbate, pierce, pinch,
     prick, prolong the agony, psych, punish, put to torture, rack,
     raise a laugh, raise a smile, rankle, rasp, recreate, refresh,
     regale, relax, rile, rip, ripple, rock, roil, roughen, rub, ruffle,
     rumple, savage, scarify, shake, shake up, slay, solace, spook,
     stab, sting, stir, stir up, swirl, throw, throw into confusion,
     tickle, titillate, torment, torture, trouble, tweak, twist,
     unsettle, upset, whip, whip up, whisk, work up, wound, wow,
     wring