Quake Meaning
/kweɪk/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA trembling or shaking.
nounAn earthquake, a trembling of the ground with force.
Sentence Examples
At the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, all the reactors stopped just after the quake.
The quake damaged many old buildings.
Many old buildings were damaged by the quake.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
During the earthquake, the entire building began to ____ violently.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ground began to ____ violently as the earthquake struck the coastal city without warning.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English quaken, from Old English cwacian (“to quake, tremble, chatter”), from Proto-Germanic *kwakōną (“to shake, quiver, tremble”), itself likely of imitative origin. Related to Old English cweċċan (“to shake, swing, move, vibrate, shake off, give up”) (see quitch), Dutch kwakkelen (“to ail, be ailing”), German Quackelei (“chattering”), Danish kvakle (“to bungle”), Latin vexō (“toss, shake violently, jostle, vex”), Irish bogadh (“a move, movement, shift, change”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Well, everybody talks about the California quakes
But the first time I ever felt the earth shake
Was in Miami, when Amy touched me."
— 1985, “Miami, My Amy”, in L.A. to Miami, performed by Keith Whitley:
"But HS1 was more exposed to the COVID quake than most given its inherent reliance on international travel, which had collapsed, leaving cross-Channel operator Eurostar stacked with millions of debt."
— 2024 January 24, Dyan Perry talks to Nick Brodrick, “The industry has given me so much”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 44:
"Dorus threw Pamela behind a tree; where she stood quaking like the partridge on which the hawk is even ready to seize."
— a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:
"The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his presence."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Nahum 1:5:
"Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear."
— 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 1:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
During the earthquake, the entire building began to ____ violently.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ground began to ____ violently as the earthquake struck the coastal city without warning.