as in earthquake
a shaking of the earth
the quake registered 6.5 on the Richter scale, causing widespread damage
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in to shake
to make a series of small irregular or violent movements
the horror film was so scary it left us quaking with fear for hours afterwards
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of quake
Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2025
About 4,000 people reported feeling the largest of the four quakes, according to the USGS.
—Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2025
Andrew Gilbert, The Mercury News, 11 Oct. 2024
Dry skin types might quake at the thought of a matte powder, but the Airbrush bronzer happens to have a silky, powder-to-cream texture and is spiked with hydrating hyaluronic acid to keep skin looking and feeling supple throughout the day.
—Jennifer Hussein, Allure, 26 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for quake
Noun
The quake happed in a seismically complex area referred to as the Mendocino Triple Junction.
—Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2025
About 4,000 people reported feeling the largest of the four quakes, according to the USGS.
—Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2025
Verb
Trumpeters aren’t the only players who quake at the suggestion of interpreting a Michael Brecker piece, which is one reason why he’s tended to be overlooked as a composer despite his vaunted status as the most influential tenor saxophonist of his generation.
—Andrew Gilbert, The Mercury News, 11 Oct. 2024
Dry skin types might quake at the thought of a matte powder, but the Airbrush bronzer happens to have a silky, powder-to-cream texture and is spiked with hydrating hyaluronic acid to keep skin looking and feeling supple throughout the day.
—Jennifer Hussein, Allure, 26 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for quake
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quake
Noun
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For example, Armenia's early years of independence were marked by tragedies like the Gyumri earthquake and the Artsakh conflict, which fostered dependence on outside economic aid.—
Bree Carriglio,
Forbes,
4 Mar. 2025
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Six years of negative economic growth fueled by the succession of crises, mismanagement of the economy and disasters that have left the country even more broken than the powerful 2010 earthquake are all to blame.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
4 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Among the official White House records housed in the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, in Atlanta, is a photograph of the late president shaking hands with an 80-year-old Black schoolteacher, Septima Poinsette Clark.—
Elaine Weiss,
The Atlantic,
6 Mar. 2025
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What’s a deadline without a head-scratcher to shake things up?—
Shayna Goldman,
The Athletic,
6 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Nearly 10,000 people from as far away as Calexico and San Diego reported feeling the tremor to the agency.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacramento Bee,
3 Mar. 2025
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Burbank experienced moderate shaking during the earthquake, while light tremors were felt across Los Angeles and Long Beach.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
3 Mar. 2025
Verb
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But that steady flow of income and improvement came to a shuddering halt on October 7 as Hamas militants poured across the Gaza border and began their murder and kidnap spree across southern Israel.—
Kocha Olarn,
CNN,
21 Feb. 2025
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Mount Spurr, an Alaskan volcano shuddering with small earthquakes for 10 months, could erupt soon.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
13 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The Tesla doesn’t have that collaborative aspect and will shut off if the driver jerks the wheel.—
Robert Ferris,
CNBC,
4 Feb. 2025
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There are numerous moments where she is lost in a dream or a memory before suddenly jerking awake, often too clearly delineating the boundaries in a film ostensibly about its main character’s delusions.—
Ryan Swen,
Variety,
18 Jan. 2025
Verb
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There were towering Great Danes, tiny, trembling Chihuahuas, and every shape of fluff in between.—
Savannah White,
Glamour,
18 Feb. 2025
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The ground would tremble now as a 110-ton launcher closure door opens and the engine ignites.—
Alfredo Sosa,
The Christian Science Monitor,
14 Feb. 2025
Verb
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In sumptuously vibrating chords in the first movement of Schubert’s Fantasy, Olafsson’s touch was a little wetter and more muted, Wang’s percussive and as coolly etched as a polygraph.—
Zachary Woolfe,
New York Times,
20 Feb. 2025
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Even the film’s basic exposition, showing Anna working in Klaus’s household and receiving her fateful instructions from Hansen, is richly suggestive of the turmoil vibrating beneath the orderly domestic surface.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
5 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Cloudlike bursts and quivering lines give a sense of the physicality of sign language.—
Aruna D’Souza,
New York Times,
14 Feb. 2025
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The muscles on the haunches of the poor animal quivered and jerked from the exertion.—
Frank C. Hibben,
Outdoor Life,
13 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Quake.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quake. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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