shock

pronunciation

How to pronounce shock in British English: UK [ʃɒk] word uk audio image

How to pronounce shock in American English: US [ʃɑːk] word us audio image

Noun:

the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
the violent interaction of individuals or groups entering into combat
a reflex response to the passage of electric current through the body
(pathology) bodily collapse or near collapse caused by inadequate oxygen delivery to the cells; characterized by reduced cardiac output and rapid heartbeat and circulatory insufficiency and pallor
an instance of agitation of the earth's crust
an unpleasant or disappointing surprise
a pile of sheaves of grain set on end in a field to dry; stalks of Indian corn set up in a field
a bushy thick mass (especially hair)
a mechanical damper; absorbs energy of sudden impulses
Verb:

surprise greatly; knock someone's socks off
strike with disgust or revulsion
strike with horror or terror
collide violently
collect or gather into shocks
subject to electrical shocks
inflict a trauma upon

Word Origin

shock: shock: English has two words shock in current general usage. Shock ‘heavy blow, unpleasant surprise’ [16] was borrowed from French choc, a derivative of the verb choquer ‘strike’, whose origins are unknown. Shock ‘thick shaggy mass of hair’ [19] is a nominalization of an earlier adjective shock ‘thick and shaggy’ [17], but it is not clear where this came from. It has been linked with the obsolete shough, which referred to a sort of dog, and another possibility is that it is connected with the now little used shock ‘stack of sheaves of corn’ [14]. This was probably borrowed from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German schok.

shock (n.1): 1560s, "violent encounter of armed forces or a pair of warriors," a military term, from Middle French choc "violent attack," from Old French choquer "strike against," probably from Frankish, from a Proto-Germanic imitative base (compare Middle Dutch schokken "to push, jolt," Old High German scoc "jolt, swing"). Meaning "a sudden blow" is from 1610s; meaning "a sudden and disturbing impression on the mind" is from 1705. Sense of "feeling of being (mentally) shocked" is from 1876. Medical sense is attested from 1804 (it also once meant "seizure, stroke," 1794). Shock-absorber is attested from 1906 (short form shocks attested by 1961); shock wave is from 1907. Shock troops (1917) translates German stoßtruppen and preserves the word's original military sense. Shock therapy is from 1917; shock treatment from 1938.

shock (n.2): "bundle of grain," early 14c., from Middle Low German schok "shock of corn," originally "group of sixty," from Proto-Germanic *skukka- (cognates: Old Saxon skok, Dutch schok "sixty pieces; shock of corn;" German schock "sixty," Hocke "heap of sheaves"). In 16c.-17c. English the word sometimes meant "60-piece lot," from trade with the Dutch.

shock (n.3): "thick mass of hair," 1819, from earlier shock (adj.) "having thick hair" (1680s), and a noun sense of "lap dog having long, shaggy hair" (1630s), from shough (1590s), the name for this type of dog, which was said to have been brought originally from Iceland; the word is perhaps from the source of shock (n.2), or from an Old Norse variant of shag (n.). Shock-headed Peter was used in 19c. translations for German Struwwelpeter.

shock (v.1): "to come into violent contact, strike against suddenly and violently," 1570s, now archaic or obsolete, from shock (n.1). Meaning "to give (something) an electric shock" is from 1746; sense of "to offend, displease" is first recorded 1690s.

shock (v.2): "arrange (grain) in a shock," mid-15c., from shock (n.2). Related: Shocked; shocking.