convulse
Americanverb (used with object)
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convulses,
present (3rd person singular)
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convulsed,
past participle, past
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convulsing
present participle
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to shake violently; agitate.
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to cause to shake violently with laughter, anger, pain, etc.
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to cause to suffer violent, spasmodic contractions of the muscles.
verb
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(tr) to shake or agitate violently
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(tr) to cause (muscles) to undergo violent spasms or contractions
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informal to shake or be overcome (with violent emotion, esp laughter)
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(tr) to disrupt the normal running of (a country, etc)
student riots have convulsed India
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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convulsibilitynoun
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convulsivenessnoun
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convulsibleadjective
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convulsiveadjective
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unconvulsedadjective
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convulsedlyadverb
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convulsivelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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convulsesimple
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convulsessimple
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have convulsedperfect
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has convulsedperfect
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am convulsingprogressive
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are convulsingprogressive
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is convulsingprogressive
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have been convulsingperfect progressive
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has been convulsingperfect progressive
Past
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convulsedsimple
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had convulsedperfect
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was convulsingprogressive
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were convulsingprogressive
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had been convulsingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of convulse
First recorded in 1635–45; from Latin convulsus, past participle of convellere “to shatter, tear loose,” equivalent to con- intensive prefix + vul- (variant stem of vellere “to pull, tear”) + -sus, variant of -tus past participle suffix; see con-
Explanation
To convulse is to have spasms. Get help immediately if you see someone convulse. This medical condition can be brought on by something simple (like a rise in body temperature) or something more complicated, such as epilepsy. In addition to being a symptom of a medical condition, to convulse is often applied to people shaking with laughter. So if you go to a club and see a hilarious comedian, you may convulse with laughter so hard that you might cry, or not be able to catch your breath, and your sides hurt.
Vocabulary lists containing convulse
The Lingo of Body Language
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Hatchet
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"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, Part Four
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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:
Oil markets could convulse if Tehran disrupted Gulf shipping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026
Then Hipolito’s body began to convulse — a possible seizure.
From Salon ● Jan. 14, 2026
I’m well past that point; some of his stories and novels I’ve read dozens, even hundreds of times, and they can still make me convulse in laughter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2025
Armies can move on your words; markets can convulse; diplomacy can unravel.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 13, 2022
One woman near the front began to convulse after a man’s name was called.
From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat
When he eventually explodes into thinking, delivering a monologue of disordered intellectual half-thoughts and rhetorical tics, the stage convulses in Lewis Carroll absurdity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2024
Under the direction of Kenny Leon — a longtime Broadway hand here masterminding the best production of his career — the fierce rivalry and protectiveness binding this Lincoln and Booth convulses in a shattering denouement.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2022
Lopez Ochoa, who collaborated with the director Nancy Meckler, establishes early on that something is amiss: Veiga convulses and sways off-balance; her followers catch her.
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2022
He could not conceive of going on as normal as the nation convulses, he said, and started searching for a way to help bring the county back together.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 5, 2019
He convulses then, jerks and judders, jolts and twists and writhes, so much that the whole earth shakes.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
On Feb. 4, 1794, while the country was convulsed in the violent political struggle known as the Terror, the National Convention abolished slavery in all French colonies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
In 2001, I was a college freshman at New York University, and watched as the twin towers fell and the country convulsed in fear and rage.
From Slate ● Mar. 11, 2026
The cases stem from the aftermath of huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests that convulsed Hong Kong from 2019.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
Ahead of the vote, the capital Tbilisi was convulsed on Friday by pop-up protests involving IT specialists, public sector workers, creative industry professionals, actors and lawyers.
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2024
The last I saw of him was his straight back convulsed in laughter, his khaki pants and knee socks spattered with mud.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
“I’m not feeling so well,” he said, before sliding down and convulsing.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Boutros said that when she heard the news of his death "I don't know what happened to me. I collapsed on the ground and was convulsing".
From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026
The man’s eyes rolled back in his head and he started convulsing.
From Salon ● Jan. 14, 2026
Last December, a Unitree bot fell over and started convulsing at a demonstration, drawing online mockery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
I stand up, my whole body convulsing with anger.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
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.
