Pronunciations (3)
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/ʃɒk/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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/ʃɔk/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
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/ʃɑk/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
Noun
A sudden, heavy impact.
Usage- Countable
- Examples
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The train hit the buffers with a great shock.
A sudden, heavy impact. Something so surprising that it is stunning.
Usage- Countable
- Figurative
- Examples
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My mother's news was a shock I still haven't recovered from.
A sudden, heavy impact. A sudden or violent emotional disturbance.
Usage- Countable
- Examples
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Carl had a shock at what he found.
A tremendous shock arises when a secret is discovered.
A sudden, heavy impact. An experience that leaves someone shaken; a very surprising, exhilarating or amazing experience.
Usage- Countable
- Examples
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The surprising blast of cold water on my face was a tremendous shock.
A sudden, heavy impact. Electric shock, a sudden burst of electrical energy hitting a person or animal.
Usage- Countable
- Examples
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We gave him a couple shocks, but the patient passed away anywway.
More examples (1)
But as was the case with pacemakers, external defibrillators were unwieldy, and the shocks they delivered—in the rare cases when patients were still conscious—were painful.
A sudden, heavy impact. The stimulation of nerves and convulsive contraction of muscles caused by electrical current flowing through a body.
Usage- Countable
A sudden, heavy impact. A state of distress following a mental or emotional disturbance, often caused by news or other stimuli.
Usage- Uncountable
- Examples
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Fans were in shock in the days following the singer's death.
The shock she felt kept her in a daze the rest of the day.
More examples (1)
". . . Maureen, I don't feel sad. I don't feel anything. What's wrong with me?" "Nothing, Cae," she said. "You just haven't been able to take it in yet. Absorb the shock of it."
A sudden, heavy impact. Circulatory shock, a medical emergency characterized by the inability of the circulatory system to supply enough oxygen to meet tissue requirements.
Usage- Uncountable
- Examples
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Call an ambulance, he's in shock!
A sudden, heavy impact. A shock wave.
Usage- Countable
- Examples
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Several reflected shocks enter the bomb core in rapid succession, each helping to compress it to its maximum density.
A shock absorber (typically in the suspension of a vehicle).
Usage- Countable
- plural
- Uncountable
- usually
- Examples
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If your truck's been riding rough, it might need new shocks.
We're bonin' on the dark blocks / Wearin' out the shocks, wettin' up the dashboard clock
More examples (1)
At the rear, you'll find a single, centrally mounted shock, the now-familiar single-sided swingarm and BMW's Paralever shaft-drive system, which does away with most of a shafty's chassis-jacking bugaboos.
A discontinuity arising in the solution of a partial differential equation.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A chemical added to a swimming pool to moderate the chlorine levels.
Usage- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
The warehouse that caught fire contained 99% trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA) – used to make chlorinated tablets to control bacteria and algae – and 99% dichloroisocyanuric acid (DCCA), which is used to make swimming pool shock – a treatment used to help break down contaminants.
Adjective
Causing intense surprise, horror, etc.; unexpected and shocking.
Usage- not-comparable
- Synonyms
- Examples
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His shock announcement rocked the tennis world.
Verb
To cause to be emotionally shocked; to cause (someone) to feel greatly surprised or upset.
Usage- Transitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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The disaster shocked the world.
To strike with disgust, to offend, scandalize.
Usage- Transitive
To give an electric shock to.
Usage- Transitive
To subject to a shock wave or violent impact.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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Ammonium nitrate can detonate if severely shocked.
To meet with a shock; to collide in a violent encounter.
Usage- Intransitive
- Obsolete
- Examples
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They saw the moment approach when the two parties would shock together.
To cook something very briefly in a hot liquid, then immediately submerge it in ice water to stop the cooking process.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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Can you shock the spinach over there?
To add a chemical to (a swimming pool) to moderate the chlorine levels.
Usage- Transitive
To deform the crystal structure of a stone by the application of extremely high pressure at moderate temperature, as produced only by hypervelocity impact events, lightning strikes, and nuclear explosions.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
It takes more than two gigapascals (two billion pascals) of pressure to shock quartz in this manner (for comparison, the atmosphere at sea level exerts a little over 100,000 pascals of pressure).
Noun
An arrangement of sheaves for drying; a stook.
- Examples
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Cause it on shocks to be by and by set.
Behind the Master walks, builds up the Shocks.
A lot consisting of sixty pieces; a term applied in some Baltic ports to loose goods.
Usage- Dated
A tuft or bunch of something, such as hair or grass.
Usage- broadly
- Synonyms
- Examples
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His head boasted a shock of sandy hair.
Every now and then I’m startled at how good-looking John is, but he glared at me from under the shock of hair that fell across his brow and scared me a little.
More examples (1)
On day three I pointed at the edge of an intricate pentagram peeking above her shock of oily black hair.
A small dog with long shaggy hair, especially a poodle or spitz; a shaggy lapdog.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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When I read of witty persons, I could not figure them but like the little shock. (translating the German Spitz)
Verb
To collect, or make up, into a shock or shocks; to stook.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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to shock rye
Noun
the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
- Broader terms
- Examples
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his mother's death left him in a daze
he was numb with shock
the violent interaction of individuals or groups entering into combat
- Synonyms
- Examples
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the armies met in the shock of battle
a reflex response to the passage of electric current through the body
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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subjects received a small electric shock when they made the wrong response
electricians get accustomed to occasional shocks
(pathology) bodily collapse or near collapse caused by inadequate oxygen delivery to the cells; characterized by reduced cardiac output and rapid heartbeat and circulatory insufficiency and pallor
- Broader terms
- Examples
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loss of blood is an important cause of shock
an instance of agitation of the earth's crust
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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the first shock of the earthquake came shortly after noon while workers were at lunch
an unpleasant or disappointing surprise
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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it came as a shock to learn that he was injured
a pile of sheaves of grain set on end in a field to dry; stalks of Indian corn set up in a field
- Broader terms
- Examples
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corn is bound in small sheaves and several sheaves are set up together in shocks
whole fields of wheat in shock
a bushy thick mass (especially hair)
- Broader terms
- Examples
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he had an unruly shock of black hair
a sudden jarring impact
- Examples
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the door closed with a jolt
all the jars and jolts were smoothed out by the shock absorbers
a mechanical damper; absorbs energy of sudden impulses
- Synonyms
- Examples
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the old car needed a new set of shocks
Verb
surprise greatly; knock someone's socks off
- Broader terms
- Examples
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I was floored when I heard that I was promoted
strike with disgust or revulsion
- Examples
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The scandalous behavior of this married woman shocked her friends
strike with horror or terror
- Examples
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The news of the bombing shocked her
collide violently
collect or gather into shocks
- Broader terms
- Examples
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shock grain
subject to electrical shocks
inflict a trauma upon
- Synonyms