jolt

[ johlt ]

/ dʒoʊlt /

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See synonyms for: jolt / jolted / jolting on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

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.

to stun with a blow, especially in boxing.

to shock emotionally or psychologically: His sudden death jolted us all.

to bring to a desired state sharply or abruptly: to jolt a person into awareness.

to make active or alert, as by using an abrupt, sharp, or rough manner: to jolt someone's memory.

to interfere with or intrude upon, especially in a rough or crude manner; interrupt disturbingly.

verb (used without object)

to move with a sharp jerk or a series of sharp jerks: The car jolted to a halt.

noun

a jolting shock, movement, or blow: The automobile gave a sudden jolt.

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.

Slang. a prison sentence.

Slang. an injection of a narcotic.

a bracing dose of something: a jolt of whiskey; a jolt of fresh air.

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Origin of jolt

1590–1600; blend of jot to jolt and joll to bump, both now dial.

OTHER WORDS FROM jolt

jolter, nounjolt·ing·ly, adverbjoltless, adjectiveun·jolt·ed, adjective

Words nearby jolt

jolly boat, jolly jumper, Jolly Roger, Jolo, Jolson, jolt, jolty, JOMO, Jomon, Jon, Jonah

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use jolt in a sentence

Despite a year of tumult and a jolt to its ad revenues, Google is as important as ever.
Where Google is placing its bets in 2021|Adam Dorfman|December 4, 2020|Search Engine Land
Investors had seen the deal as a huge win for Nikola, by giving it a massive jolt of credibility.
Why today’s GM news is devastating for Nikola|dzanemorris|November 30, 2020|Fortune
CASP got the jolt it was looking for when DeepMind entered the competition in 2018 with its first version of AlphaFold.
DeepMind’s protein-folding AI has solved a 50-year-old grand challenge of biology|Will Heaven|November 30, 2020|MIT Technology Review
The jolt is due in part, no doubt, to traders fleeing BitMEX, which has long specialized in such derivatives markets.
Binance CEO: BitMEX indictment is ‘wake-up call’ for cryptocurrency industry|rhhackettfortune|October 21, 2020|Fortune

Democrats, meanwhile, point to evidence of a jolt of energy on their side.
Republicans face major head winds in final stretch to maintain Senate majority|Rachael Bade, Paul Kane|October 5, 2020|Washington Post
The whole point of writing for free online, as Justin Hall had shown, was that it produced a jolt of joy.
You Can Look It Up: The Wikipedia Story|Walter Isaacson|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the real, unexpected jolt that kicked off the new season was the violent, sudden arrest of Cary.
‘The Good Wife’ Creators on the Premiere’s Big Cary Twist, Will’s Death, and More|Kevin Fallon|September 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The decrepit BMD came to a stop with a gear-clanking jolt by the water, and within seconds the soldiers broke out the vodka.
Shakeup In the Ukraine Rebel High Command|Jamie Dettmer|August 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was the jolt needed to get through the last stretch of the summer.
Can Jessie J’s ‘Bang Bang’ Save Us From This Awful Musical Summer?|Kevin Fallon|July 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So, yeah, it was a very big hiccup—one sufficiently large to jolt the heart from its regular beat.
How Obamacare Helped Crash the Economy|Daniel Gross|June 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The first jolt had like to have shaken me out of my hammock, but afterwards the motion was easy enough.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift
This affords the maximum of riding comfort by the elimination of all jar and jolt occasioned by an uneven roadway.
The Wonder Book of Knowledge|Various
So the next day after the funeral, along about noon-time, the girls' joy got the first jolt.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Dissertations on literature, science, and philosophy came as an unexpected jolt.
David Lannarck, Midget|George S. Harney
A jolt, and you are descending, grip in hand, upon the platform.
American Sketches|Charles Whibley

British Dictionary definitions for jolt

jolt

/ (dʒəʊlt) /

verb (tr)

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

Derived forms of jolt

jolter, nounjoltingly, adverbjolty, adjective

Word Origin for jolt

C16: probably blend of dialect jot to jerk and dialect joll to bump

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

jolt

Origin of jolt

OTHER WORDS FROM jolt

Words nearby jolt

Words related to jolt

How to use jolt in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for jolt

Derived forms of jolt

Word Origin for jolt