electric shock

American

noun

shock.

electric shock British

noun

Sometimes shortened to: shock. the physiological reaction, characterized by pain and muscular spasm, to the passage of an electric current through the body. It can affect the respiratory system and heart rhythm

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

electric shocks

plural

Etymology

Origin of electric shock

First recorded in 1940–45

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:

electric shock

In one experiment in 2012, a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology gave mice a mild electric shock in a particular cage.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

A third firefighter was injured by what he said felt like an electric shock while he was on an aerial ladder spraying water onto the building.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

"It can give my heart an electric shock to get it working properly again," she explains.

From BBC ● May 31, 2026

In 2017, NHS England and the Royal College of Psychiatrists pledged to stop practising conversion therapy, including electric shock treatment.

From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025

She touched his arm, and a tiny electric shock passed between them.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023