Definition
nounA sudden, heavy impact.
nounA sudden, heavy impact., Something so surprising that it is stunning.
Sentence Examples
In a foreign country most of us go through culture shock.
We all shuddered from the great shock.
I got a terrible shock the other day.
Word Origin & History
From Middle Dutch schokken (“to push, jolt, shake, jerk”) or Middle French choquer (“to collide with, clash”), from Old Dutch *skokkan (“to shake up and down, shog”), from Proto-Germanic *skukkaną (“to move, shake, tremble”). Of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skakaną (“to shake, stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kek-, *(s)keg- (“to shake, stir”); see shake.
Cognate with Middle Low German schocken (“collide with, deliver a blow to, move back and forth”), Old High German scoc (“a jolt, swing”), Middle High German schocken (“to swing”) (German schaukeln), Old Norse skykkr (“vibration, surging motion”), Icelandic skykkjun (“tremulously”), Middle English schiggen (“to shake”). Doublet of shog.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"A tremendous shock arises when a secret is discovered."
— 2005, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, David Kessler, On Grief and Grieving, →ISBN, page 85:
"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."
— 2018, Sandeep Jauhar, Heart: a History, →ISBN, page 173:
"We're bonin' on the dark blocks / Wearin' out the shocks, wettin' up the dashboard clock"
— 1993, “Back Seat (of My Jeep)”, in 14 Shots to the Dome, performed by LL Cool J:
"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."
— 1994, Cycle World Magazine, volume 33, number 1, page 49:
"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."
— 2024 November 24, Chris Boyette, “Investigators release update on BioLab chemical plant fire probe”, in CNN: