quake
Americanverb (used without object)
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quakes,
present (3rd person singular)
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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
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the act or an instance of quaking
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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
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have been quakingperfect progressive
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has been quakingperfect progressive
Past
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quakedsimple
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had quakedperfect
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was quakingprogressive
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were quakingprogressive
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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:
The quake destroyed schools, hospitals and scores of residential buildings across several towns and cities.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Nearly 1,100 people reported feeling Sunday’s quake, according to the USGS.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
The Nepali foreign minister's statement aligned with a US Geological Survey report of a quake in Tibet that was north of the disaster zone.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Alfonso Malpica said he felt his ground floor flat in Granada shaking, telling El País newspaper that the quake was "stronger than the ones that happen from time to time, the ones we're used to".
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Two weeks after the quake, a day’s rental of a horse and buggy cost $5; a two-seated runabout cost $100 a day.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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
In my new study, I used seismic stations in Antarctica itself to look for signs of these quakes.
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
When the reporter approached him and asked what he thought of the quakes and the ash and the steam issuing from the new crater, the logger didn’t hesitate.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
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
He has never been to Kyle Field, which does quake even if it quaked less last Saturday.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2022
The car screamed, quaked, stopped and smoked yet somehow started again.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2022
But he found now that his knees quaked, and he did not dare to go near enough to the wizard to reach the bundle.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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
Manchester City prevailed in a nine-goal feast at Fulham thanks to the sort of attacking display that would normally have title rivals quaking in their boots.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025
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
“Dumbledore was really angry,” Hermione said in a quaking voice.
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
