earthquake

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a disturbance that is extremely disruptive

   selling the company caused an earthquake among the employees

2. 2
   noun

   A shaking of the ground, caused by volcanic activity or movement around geologic faults.

   Her alablaster brest she soft did kis, / Which all that while shee felt to pant and quake, / As it an Earth-quake were: at last she thus bespake.

3. 3
   noun

   Such a quake specifically occurring on the planet Earth, as opposed to other celestial bodies.

   Since the response of some man-made structures to the ground motion near the epicenter is highly dependent on frequency, a significant difference in potential damage to the structures is expected between earthquakes and moonquakes.

4. 4
   noun

   A sudden and intense upheaval; a severely disruptive event.

   As we have seen, economic earthquakes often result in political shockwaves. […] He highlights a correlation between those states with the highest robot density and those states that unexpectedly swung behind Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, namely Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

5. 5
   verb

   To undergo an earthquake.

   Watch the Philippines very closely for the next little while. There is rumbling and earthquaking deep within Pinatubo and increased earthquaking within Mayon.

6. 6
   noun

   shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane of from volcanic activity

Etymology

From Middle English erthequake, corresponding to earth + quake. Displaced Middle English eorð byfung (“earthquake”) from Old English eorþbeofung (literally “earth shaking”).