jolt
Americanverb (used with object)
-
jolts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
jolted,
past participle, past
-
jolting
present participle
-
to jar, shake, or cause to move by or as if by a sudden rough thrust; shake up roughly.
The bus jolted its passengers as it went down the rocky road.
-
to knock sharply so as to dislodge.
He jolted the nail free with a stone.
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to stun with a blow, especially in boxing.
-
to shock emotionally or psychologically.
His sudden death jolted us all.
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to bring to a desired state sharply or abruptly.
to jolt a person into awareness.
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to make active or alert, as by using an abrupt, sharp, or rough manner.
to jolt someone's memory.
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to interfere with or intrude upon, especially in a rough or crude manner; interrupt disturbingly.
verb (used without object)
-
jolts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
jolted,
past participle, past
-
jolting
present participle
noun
-
jolts
plural
-
a jolting shock, movement, or blow.
The automobile gave a sudden jolt.
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an emotional or psychological shock.
The news of his arrest gave me quite a jolt.
-
something that causes such a shock.
The news was a jolt to me.
-
a sudden, unexpected rejection or defeat.
Their policy got a rude jolt from the widespread opposition.
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Slang. a prison sentence.
-
Slang. an injection of a narcotic.
-
a bracing dose of something.
a jolt of whiskey; a jolt of fresh air.
verb
-
to bump against with a jarring blow; jostle
-
to move in a jolting manner
-
to surprise or shock
noun
-
a sudden jar or blow
-
an emotional shock
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
joltsimple
-
joltssimple
-
have joltedperfect
-
has joltedperfect
-
am joltingprogressive
-
are joltingprogressive
-
is joltingprogressive
-
have been joltingperfect progressive
-
has been joltingperfect progressive
Past
-
joltedsimple
-
had joltedperfect
-
was joltingprogressive
-
were joltingprogressive
-
had been joltingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jolt
1590–1600; blend of jot to jolt and joll to bump, both now dial.
Explanation
To jolt someone is to disturb them or make them jump. A jolt is sudden and jarring. Jolting disturbs or surprises people. If you surprise someone and they jump up a little, you jolted them. Alarm clocks jolt people out of sleep. A sudden crack of thunder could provide a jolt. The unexpected barking of a dog could jolt you. Jolting is quick and not very pleasant. A jolt jars and stuns you. Some jolts are more serious: crashing your car jolts the people in the car violently.
Vocabulary lists containing jolt
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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:
By the time he realised, with a sudden jolt of panic, it was too late.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
A small splash of vinegar at the end of cooking can give a tired pot an almost startling jolt.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
The AI-fueled economy might also just need that much of a jolt to slow it down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
As soon as we’ve adjusted to the absurdism, Iñárritu gives the movie a seismic jolt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
And that thought brought me back to Edward, with a jolt.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
Across the region, other election officials were getting similar jolts.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2026
El Niño jolts California fuel market—and brings epic waves to a surf spot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, typically experiences hundreds of jolts every year and accounts for about 18 percent of the world's earthquakes.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
The lesson, he says, was that "the paleoclimate evidence actually doesn't suggest that climate change would happen smoothly, but rather in some jumps and jolts and non-linear effects".
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Now he was experiencing jolts of anxiety, nagging doubts: He could not shake off the fear that it was all going to go wrong.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
The temblor jolted the area at 12:13 a.m., with an epicenter about three miles south-southeast of Compton.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
A rising star on China’s increasingly competitive AI scene, Moonshot jolted the industry in July with its new large-language model Kimi K3, whose performance rivals that of some top-tier American offerings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
The repeated heatwaves and wildfires have jolted the public into reflection on the reality of climate change.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
U.S. stock futures were higher with Nasdaq making gains as traders brushed off the AI worries that jolted stocks in recent weeks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
A girl’s voice jolted me from my thoughts.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
The bond-market rout of 2026 may be jolting markets, but it’s also gaining a important following among savers and the risk-averse.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
The 10-year Treasury rate doesn’t appear all that elevated when looking back in history over many decades, although the speed at which it has climbed has been jolting this quarter, Faber said in an interview.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
But while both are promising young actors, they do not succeed in bringing sufficient feeling to the jolting roller coaster of their characters’ fates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Then there was the time her pit bull terrier, Thor, barked at a cat outside, jolting the feline skyward.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Suddenly there was a voice in the distance, calling my name, jolting me from my thoughts.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
