Shock, n.
Etymology: [Cf. D. schok a bounce, jolt, or leap, OHG. scoc a swing, MHG. schoc, Icel. skykkjun tremuously, F. choc a shock, collision, a dashing or striking against, Sp. choque, It. ciocco a log. sq. root161. Cf. Shock to shake.]
1. A quivering or shaking which is the effect of a blow, collision, or violent impulse; a blow, impact, or collision; a concussion; a sudden violent impulse or onset. These strong, unshaken mounds resist the shocks Of tides and seas tempestuous. Blackmore. He stood the shock of a whole host of foes. Addison.
2. A sudden agitation of the mind or feelings; a sensation of pleasure or pain caused by something unexpected or overpowering; also, a sudden agitating or overpowering event. "A shock of pleasure." Talfourd.
3. (Med.)
A sudden depression of the vital forces of the entire body, or of a port of it, marking some profound impression produced upon the nervous system, as by severe injury, overpowering emotion, or the like.
3 more senses
4. (Elec.)
The sudden convulsion or contraction of the muscles, with the feeling of a concussion, caused by the discharge, through the animal system, of electricity from a charged body.
Syn. -- Concussion, Shock. Both words signify a sudden violent shaking caused by impact or colision; but concussion is restricted in use to matter, while shock is used also of mental states.
7 other Webster entries under this spelling
Shock, n.
1. A pile or assemblage of sheaves of grain, as wheat, rye, or the like, set up in a field, the sheaves varying in number from twelve to sixteen; a stook. And cause it on shocks to be by and by set. Tusser. Behind the master walks, builds up the shocks. Thomson.
2. Etym: [G. schock.] (Com.)
A lot consisting of sixty pieces; -- a term applied in some Baltic ports to loose goods.
Shock, v. t.
To collect, or make up, into a shock or shocks; to stook; as, to shock rye.
Shock, v. i.
To be occupied with making shocks. Reap well, scatter not, gather clean that is shorn, Bind fast, shock apace. Tusser.
Shock, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shocked; p. pr. & vb. n. Shocking.]
1. To give a shock to; to cause to shake or waver; hence, to strike against suddenly; to encounter with violence. Come the three corners of the world in arms, And we shall shock them. Shak. A shall never forget the force with which he shocked De Vipont. Sir W. Scott.
2. To strike with surprise, terror, horror, or disgust; to cause to recoil; as, his violence shocked his associates. Advise him not to shock a father's will. Dryden.
Shock, v. i.
To meet with a shock; to meet in violent encounter. "They saw the moment approach when the two parties would shock together." De Quincey.
Shock, n.
1. (Zoöl.)
A dog with long hair or shag; -- called also shockdog.
2. A thick mass of bushy hair; as, a head covered with a shock of sandy hair.
Shock, a.
Bushy; shaggy; as, a shock hair. His red shock peruke . . . was laid aside. Sir W. Scott.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for shock; he lists it under blow, collision.
Where he writes about it:
A shock is the sudden encounter with some heavy body; as, colliding railway-trains meet with a shock; the shock of battle. — from blow
Shock is used of that which is at once sudden, violent, and prostrating; we speak of a shock of electricity, the shock of an amputation, a shock of surprise. — from blow
Shock is the result of collision. — from collision