concussion
Americannoun
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concussions
plural
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Pathology. injury to the brain or spinal cord due to jarring from a blow, fall, or the like.
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shock caused by the impact of a collision, blow, etc.
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the act of violently shaking or jarring.
noun
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a jarring of the brain, caused by a blow or a fall, usually resulting in loss of consciousness
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any violent shaking; jarring
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of concussion
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin concussiōn-, stem of concussiō “a shaking,” also “earthquake, extortion”; equivalent to concuss + -ion
Explanation
A concussion is a violent blow, especially to the head, that often injures the brain or causes a loss of consciousness — an all-too-frequent occurrence, unfortunately, in contact sports like football or boxing. First used around 1400, concussion originates from the Latin concussionem, which means "a shaking." Your brain certainly gets "a shaking" when you take a heavy blow to the head, which sometimes causes injury or permanent damage. It's not just people, though, who get concussions; a building can also suffer from a concussion during an earthquake.
Vocabulary lists containing concussion
"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
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Drama
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Game Changer
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In an earlier statement, McConnell claimed he didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
In 2023, McConnell tripped, sustained a concussion, and was away from the Senate for nearly six weeks.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
Doctors used to worry almost exclusively about concussions, but most headers don’t produce a concussion diagnosis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
“Back when I played, I didn’t know what concussion meant,” said Sparks coach Lynne Roberts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
“You must have hit your head. You don’t have a concussion, though, and I couldn’t find any injury on your scalp. Cade?”
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
Heading a football lasts a fraction of a second and rarely causes concussions, but it could also explain why some players develop dementia decades later.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
The “why” could be bad luck, better awareness in diagnosing concussions or something else.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
The hardest part with concussions can be the initial diagnosis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
He sustained four concussions in six years, and met with doctors to see if he could continue his football career.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 9, 2026
A long shear of light and then a series of low concussions.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
