convulse
[kuh n-vuhls]
- to shake violently; agitate.
- to cause to shake violently with laughter, anger, pain, etc.
- to cause to suffer violent, spasmodic contractions of the muscles.
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Origin of convulse
1635–45; < Latin convulsus past participle of convellere to shatter, tear loose, equivalent to con- con- + vul- (variant stem of vellere to pull, tear) + -sus, variant of -tus past participle suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for convulsing
Contemporary Examples
The haunting video shows apparent victims, including children, convulsing and foaming at the mouth.
I turned to look at the building that I had just run out of; it was convulsing uncontrollably.
His girlfriend told CBS Sacramento that he was “convulsing, snorting, trying to breathe.”
'Twilight: Breaking Dawn' Seizures & More Movies That Can Kill (VIDEO)The Daily Beast Video
November 8, 2010
Historical Examples
There was a blaze of fire, and a half a dozen Dusties slid to the ground, convulsing.
Image of the GodsAlan Edward Nourse
And while I was convulsing myself in vain, the train started!
In Glanville it was the mind governing and convulsing the body.
Pelham, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
Then he would take the floor and soon would have them convulsing with merriment.
Birth of a ReformationAndrew Byers
So rigid was his self-control that he gave no other sign of the passion that was convulsing him.
The Terms of SurrenderLouis Tracy
convulse
- (tr) to shake or agitate violently
- (tr) to cause (muscles) to undergo violent spasms or contractions
- (intr often foll by with) informal to shake or be overcome (with violent emotion, esp laughter)
- (tr) to disrupt the normal running of (a country, etc)student riots have convulsed India
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin convulsus, from convellere to tear up, from vellere to pluck, pull
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for convulsing
convulse
v.
1640s, transitive; 1680s, intransitive; from Latin convulsus, past participle of convellere (transitive only) "to pull away, to pull this way and that, wrench," hence "to weaken, overthrow, destroy" (see convulsion). Related: Convulsed (1630s); convulsing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
convulse
(kən-vŭls′)- To affect or be affected with irregular and involuntary muscular contractions; throw or be thrown into convulsions.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.