quake
Americanverb (used without object)
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quakes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
quaked,
past participle, past
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quaking
present participle
noun
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quakes
plural
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an earthquake.
-
a trembling or tremulous agitation.
verb
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to shake or tremble with or as with fear
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to convulse or quiver, as from instability
noun
-
the act or an instance of quaking
-
informal short for earthquake
Synonym Usage
See shiver 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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quakesimple
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quakessimple
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have quakedperfect
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has quakedperfect
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am quakingprogressive
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are quakingprogressive
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is quakingprogressive
-
have been quakingperfect progressive
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has been quakingperfect progressive
Past
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quakedsimple
-
had quakedperfect
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was quakingprogressive
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were quakingprogressive
-
had been quakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of quake
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English cwacian “to shake, tremble”
Explanation
When you quake, you tremble and shiver. A scary sound in a dark basement might make you quake. To quake is to move rapidly back and forth, so quickly that the movement is almost a vibration. If you've ever felt the floor quake during an actual earthquake, you know the fluttery, shaking kind of movement. A person can quake with fear, and a building can quake during a wind storm. You can also use the word quake as a noun, to describe the feeling itself. The Old English root is cwacian, or "tremble or clatter of teeth."
Vocabulary lists containing quake
Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 5
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Scrabble: Words that Begin with Q
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Lesson 24
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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:
About 4.6 million people felt moderate to severe shaking as a result of the quake, according to the US Geological Survey, which has said that the effects of the disaster were "likely to be widespread".
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
The quake was registered at a shallow depth of 12 kilometers, meaning its impact was likely to be more severe.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
The quake was registered as occurring at a depth of just 12km.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
The quake destroyed schools, hospitals and scores of residential buildings across several towns and cities.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
A woman named Yukari Kurosawa was working at a hospital in Otsuchi when the quake struck.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
First discovered in the northern hemisphere more than 20 years ago, these quakes occur when huge chunks of ice fall from glaciers into the sea.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
The quakes hit as La Guaira was marking the feast of San Juan, an annual celebration featuring the ritual beating of drums.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
The quake comes less than two months after twin quakes devastated the north of neighbouring Venezuela, killing more than 6,100 people.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
National Assembly Chief Jorge Rodriguez, the brother of interim president Delcy Rodriguez, stated on June 30 that 30,000 people were located in the disaster zone when the quakes struck.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Three more large quakes, each larger than magnitude 6, followed that same day.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
He was so influential that two presidents, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, quaked under fear of incurring McCarthy's wrath.
From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2024
But on board, the 12-year-old girl quaked with fear.
From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2024
Connors once bent strings wildly, as if the entire guitar quaked beneath his blues.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2022
He has never been to Kyle Field, which does quake even if it quaked less last Saturday.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2022
Regardless, the guards’ faces were stern and hard, and she quaked inside.
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
But while Wembanyama is having the time of his life, every other team in the league is quaking in its boots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
Troubles, however, are also quaking on the offensive side of America’s nuclear-weapons enterprise—specifically, the program to build a new land-based intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sentinel, to replace the 400 current ICBMs, known as Minuteman IIIs.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2025
The role is so glorious that he almost breaks character when he begins quaking in earnest.
From Salon ● Nov. 9, 2024
Treinen was hardly quaking in his cleats, despite the fine mess he had gotten himself into.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2024
Down in that kipple-infested old apt, watching Buster Friendly on her TV set and quaking with fear every time she imagines someone coming down the hall.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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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.
