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convulse

con·vulse

UK/kənˈvʌls/ uncommon

verb

1.

make someone convulse with laughter

  • “The comedian convulsed the crowd”
2.

be overcome with laughter

3.

move or stir about violently

  • “The feverish patient thrashed around in his bed”
Synonyms
4.

shake uncotrollably

  • “earthquakes convulsed the countryside”
5.

cause to contract

  • “The spasm convulses her facial muscles”
6.

contract involuntarily, as in a spasm

  • “The muscles in her face convulsed”

Origin

From Latin convulsus, past participle of convellere (“to pluck up, dislocate, convulse”), from com- (“together”) + vellere (“to pluck, pull”). Doublet of convel.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.