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convulsion

/(kən-vŭlˈshən)/ listen

Definition by Wordnik

  1. (noun) An intense, paroxysmal, involuntary muscular contraction.
  2. (noun) An uncontrolled fit, as of laughter; a paroxysm.
  3. (noun) Violent turmoil: "The market convulsions of the last few weeks have shaken the world” ( Felix Rohatyn).

Example by Wordnik

  1. The book has an epic scope — it is a picture of a planet in convulsion — without foregoing the detail of everyday life or a sense of the moment. - A Different Stripe:
  2. In the end, you make the -- we're going through a kind of short-term convulsion, and normal will be what normal was, maybe a titch (ph) different? - CNN Transcript Oct 4, 2001
  3. China, the most populous nation of the globe, was in convulsion, its regime still undecided. - Fifteen Years at the World Bank
  4. -- Although there is no disease of the nervous system which can be properly termed convulsive, or justify the use of the word convulsion to indicate any particular disease, yet it is often such a prominent symptom that a few words may not be out of place. - Special Report on Diseases of the Horse
  5. The highest eulogy that can be pronounced on the intellectual character of a ruler, in times of great civil convulsion, is that it is his policy to have no policy, content with keeping his ship trim as he permits her to sweep downwards with the precipitous torrent. - An Address in Commemoration of Abraham Lincoln

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