quake
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
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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:
Local media quoted the operator of the mall, which was evacuated before being ripped apart by the suspected gas blast over an hour after Tuesday's quake, as saying that all employees were now accounted for.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
More than 100 aftershocks have been recorded since the initial quake, and many have taken to sleeping in their cars for fear of further tremors.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
The US Geological Survey measured the quake at 6.8, lower than Japan's reading of 7.1.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that overall, 13 people were killed in the quake.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Mom listened with wide eyes as they told her about the quake.
From "I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980" by Lauren Tarshis
Sachi Nishiyama spent two years in temporary housing after twin quakes devastated southwestern Japan in 2016.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
It immediately brought back memories of a pair of quakes a decade ago in Kumamoto that killed more than 200 people and caused heavy damage at the mall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Japan has strict building codes that generally mean most structures remain undamaged even in the most severe quakes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
A total of 278 people were killed in 2016 by powerful quakes in Kumamoto and neighbouring Oita prefectures, according to Japan's public broadcaster NHK.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Even more unnerving, because they are less well understood and capable of occurring anywhere at any time, are the rarer type of shakings known as intraplate quakes.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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
Neither Pinterest nor the patriarchy quaked in its boots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2024
Diggins-Smith’s straightforward words were weighted as her voice quaked with frustration and anguish shone in her eyes.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2022
Atop her shoulders, the domovoi quaked and hissed.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
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
He sounded quite irritated that they were asking him about such trivialities when he is the one who has world leaders quaking in their boots as he re-makes the whole world in his image.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2025
Treinen was hardly quaking in his cleats, despite the fine mess he had gotten himself into.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2024
Inside, Roy was quaking with terror but on the outside he remained calm and motionless.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
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.
