# shock

Pronunciation: say "SHOK" US /ʃɔk/, UK /ʃɒk/

## Noun

1. A state of distress that follows sudden bad news or another deeply upsetting event.
   - Simple: A feeling of deep upset that comes after hearing very bad or surprising news.
   - _The family remained in shock for weeks after the diagnosis._
   - _News of the layoffs sent the whole office into collective shock._
2. An event or fact so surprising that it stuns those who encounter it.
   - Simple: A very surprising thing that leaves people stunned.
   - _The election result was a shock to political analysts everywhere._
   - _His sudden resignation came as a shock to the entire board._
3. A sudden or violent disturbance to one's mental or emotional state.
   - Simple: A sudden, strong upset to your feelings or mind.
   - _The unexpected betrayal was a profound shock to him._
   - _A loud explosion outside produced a shock that left her trembling._
4. A sudden burst of electrical energy passing through a person or animal.
   - Simple: A sudden, painful burst of electricity passing through the body.
   - _She felt a sharp shock when she gripped the frayed cable._
   - _Faulty wiring delivered a painful shock to the technician._
6. A sudden, heavy impact or violent collision.
   - Simple: A sudden, hard hit or blow.
   - _The shock of the explosion shattered windows several blocks away._
   - _Engineers designed the barrier to absorb the shock of a collision._
9. A device in a vehicle's suspension that absorbs impacts from the road surface.
   - Simple: A part in a vehicle that softens bumps from the road.
   - _He replaced the rear shock after the rough off-road trip._
   - _Stiff shocks give a sports car its firm, controlled ride._
10. A wave of high pressure traveling outward from an explosion or other violent disturbance.
   - Simple: A fast-moving wave of pressure caused by a blast or explosion.
   - _The shock from the supersonic jet rattled windows below._
   - _Seismic shocks radiated outward from the epicenter._
11. A life-threatening condition in which the circulatory system fails to deliver enough oxygen to the body's tissues.
   - Simple: A dangerous condition where the body cannot get enough blood and oxygen to its organs.
   - _The patient slipped into shock as his blood pressure plummeted._
   - _Paramedics watched closely for signs of shock at the scene._
12. A thick, bushy mass of hair, or a similar dense tuft of grass or other growth.
   - Simple: A thick bunch of something like hair or grass that stands up together.
   - _She brushed back the heavy shock of hair that kept falling over her eyes._
   - _A pale shock of marsh grass leaned in the wind along the bank._
13. A strong dose of chlorine or another oxidizing chemical added to a swimming pool to break down contaminants and restore effective chlorine levels.
   - Simple: A chemical you add to a swimming pool to keep the chlorine at the right level.
   - _The pool guy poured a measured dose of shock into the deep end._
   - _Cloudy water usually clears within a day after a good dose of shock._
16. An arrangement of grain sheaves stood upright together in a field to dry; a stook.
   - Simple: A group of grain bundles stood up together in a field to dry.
   - _Each shock held a dozen sheaves leaning together against the wind._
   - _By dusk the field was dotted with golden shocks of barley._
18. A point or boundary where a partial differential equation's solution ceases to be continuous.
   - Simple: A sudden jump in the answer to a certain kind of hard math problem.
   - _The numerical scheme captured a shock forming in the fluid equations._
   - _Near the shock, the computed pressure jumped sharply instead of changing smoothly._

## Verb

5. To make someone feel suddenly surprised and upset.
   - Simple: To make someone feel very surprised and upset.
   - _Reports of the scandal shocked the public._
   - _Such revelations can shock even seasoned reporters._
8. To pass an electric current through a person or animal.
   - Simple: To send an electric current through a person or animal.
   - _The faulty appliance shocked her when she plugged it in._
   - _A cattle prod can shock an animal into moving forward._
14. To treat a swimming pool with a chemical that moderates its chlorine levels.
   - Simple: To add a chemical to a swimming pool to keep its chlorine at the right level.
   - _Pool owners shock their pools each week during the hottest months._
   - _After heavy rain, the staff shock the public pool to fix the chlorine balance._
15. To subject something to a shock wave or a violent physical impact.
   - Simple: To hit something with a sudden strong blow or blast of force.
   - _The crash shocked the chassis hard enough to crumple the whole frame._
   - _Designers need to know how repeated impacts shock the structure over many years._
17. To gather cut grain and stand it up in bundles for drying; to stook.
   - Simple: To gather cut grain into standing bundles so it can dry.
   - _Farmhands shock the barley by hand through the long afternoon._
   - _They shocked the rye into neat rows so it could cure._
19. To deform a stone's crystal structure through extremely high pressure at moderate temperature, of the kind produced only by hypervelocity impacts, lightning, or nuclear blasts.
   - Simple: To change the inside structure of a rock using huge sudden pressure, like from a meteor strike.
   - _Only events like meteor strikes can shock quartz into showing telltale fracture patterns._
   - _Geologists found minerals that a distant nuclear test had shocked decades earlier._

## Adjective

7. Causing intense surprise or horror; strikingly unexpected.
   - Simple: Causing strong surprise or horror, and completely unexpected.
   - _The tabloid ran a shock headline about the celebrity's arrest._
   - _His shock departure left the company without a leader._

## Verb

20. To meet with a sudden impact; to collide in a violent encounter. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To crash into one another in a sudden, violent meeting.
   - _The opposing hosts shock with such fury that the ground itself seems to tremble._
   - _Two great fleets shocked in the narrow strait, and timbers splintered on every side._

## Noun

21. A lot of sixty pieces, used in some Baltic ports for counting loose goods. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A group of sixty items counted together as one unit when selling goods.
   - _The clerk recorded a shock of timber on the bill of lading._
   - _They bought several shocks of staves at the harbor that fall._
22. A small lapdog with a long, shaggy coat, especially a poodle or spitz. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A small dog with long, messy, shaggy hair, like a little poodle.
   - _A pampered shock yapped at every visitor who came to the door._
   - _The duchess carried her shock under one arm into the parlor._

## Origin

This comes from Middle Dutch schokken ("to push, jolt, shake") or Middle French choquer ("to collide, clash"), going back through Old Dutch to Proto-Germanic *skukkaną ("to move, shake, tremble"). Its origin is uncertain, but it is perhaps related to the root that gives us "shake."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/shock (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).