quake

American  

[kweyk] / kweɪk /

verb (used without object)

quaked, quaking

1. (of persons) to shake or tremble from cold, weakness, fear, anger, or the like.

   He spoke boldly even though his legs were quaking.

   Synonyms:

   shudder

2. (of things) to shake or tremble, as from shock, internal convulsion, or instability.

   The earth suddenly began to quake.

   Synonyms:

   quiver

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noun

1. an earthquake.

2. a trembling or tremulous agitation.

quake British  

/ kweɪk /

verb

1. to shake or tremble with or as with fear

2. to convulse or quiver, as from instability

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noun

1. the act or an instance of quaking

2. informal short for earthquake

Related Words

See shiver ¹.

Other Word Forms

• quakingly
  adverb
• unquaking
  adjective

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."

Example Sentences

Immediately after the larger quake occurred, those same regions became almost completely quiet.

From Science Daily • May 16, 2026

During the 2022 unrest, however, the rising magma triggered thousands of smaller earthquakes clustered along the fault rather than one major quake.

From Science Daily • May 14, 2026

The latest sizable quake in the Silver State in recent days struck at 1:17 a.m.

From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2026

People in Japan are still scarred by memories of a huge quake in 2011 that triggered a tsunami which killed more than 18,000 people and caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026

A million thoughts swim through my head, making tremors quake up and down my spine.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam