quaked; quaking
1
: to shake or vibrate usually from shock or instability
2
: to tremble or shudder usually from cold or fear
: an instance of shaking or trembling (as of the earth or moon)
especially
: earthquake
Synonyms
Examples of quake in a Sentence
Verb
She was quaking with rage.
The explosion made the whole house quake.
Noun
the quake registered 6.5 on the Richter scale, causing widespread damage
Recent Examples on the Web
Mirjam Swanson, Orange County Register, 4 Apr. 2024
But the studio lights are on, and the entire building is practically quaking from the exuberant blast of horns that keeps going on and on.
—Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 11 Mar. 2024
In 2020, after an 800-year interregnum, parts of the land started shaking, quaking and inflating, signifying the incursion of magma from deep below.
—Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 13 Feb. 2024
Justin Simien made sure every crypt door creaked and every tombstone quaked in Haunted Mansion, his spirited movie adaptation of the beloved Disney parks attractions operating at several resorts around the world.
—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 28 July 2023
Now, the talent drops off behind starters at wide receiver, tight end, and all five spots on the line, but enough reserves have seen action that the 49ers shouldn’t quake in their cleats.
—Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 25 Jan. 2024
To study quaking giants, scientists use data from NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler telescope, which monitored the brightness of over 180,000 stars for years.
—WIRED, 26 Nov. 2023
Presently, based on the proximity of the magma to the surface and the constant seismic rumbling, Iceland’s Meteorological Office suspects that there is a very high likelihood of an eruption, somewhere along that 10-mile-long line of deformed and quaking ground, in the coming days.
—WIRED, 16 Nov. 2023
French Canadian woodsmen in the 1600s believed that the trees quaked in fear because the cross on which Jesus was crucified was made of aspen.
—Michael C Grant, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
Fox News, 21 Apr. 2024
The death toll from the quake has risen to 13, Taiwan’s National Fire Agency (NFA) said, after three bodies were found on a walking trail through the mountainous region.
—Wayne Chang, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
The last earthquake of similar magnitude to impact the region was in 2011, when a 5.8 quake struck central Virginia but was also felt across the East Coast.
—Solcyré Burga, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
People across the region were startled by the rumbling of the quake.
—Lucia Suarez Sang, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2024
Shaking from a single quake in the eastern U.S. can be felt much farther away than an equivalently powerful magnitude quake in California.
—Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024
The quake, which struck just before 10:30 a.m. local time, was centered near Lebanon, New Jersey, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said earlier Friday.
—Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024
Even with an epicenter in Virginia, the large quake caused evacuations and damage in the New York metro region.
—USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
The nearly 4-mile deep quake hit 19 miles from Morgan Hill at 1:09 a.m.
—Don Sweeney, Sacramento Bee, 10 Apr. 2024
Verb
The mortals among us would have been quaking with that kind of weight on our shoulders.
—Mirjam Swanson, Orange County Register, 4 Apr. 2024
But the studio lights are on, and the entire building is practically quaking from the exuberant blast of horns that keeps going on and on.
—Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 11 Mar. 2024
In 2020, after an 800-year interregnum, parts of the land started shaking, quaking and inflating, signifying the incursion of magma from deep below.
—Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 13 Feb. 2024
Justin Simien made sure every crypt door creaked and every tombstone quaked in Haunted Mansion, his spirited movie adaptation of the beloved Disney parks attractions operating at several resorts around the world.
—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 28 July 2023
Now, the talent drops off behind starters at wide receiver, tight end, and all five spots on the line, but enough reserves have seen action that the 49ers shouldn’t quake in their cleats.
—Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 25 Jan. 2024
To study quaking giants, scientists use data from NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler telescope, which monitored the brightness of over 180,000 stars for years.
—WIRED, 26 Nov. 2023
Presently, based on the proximity of the magma to the surface and the constant seismic rumbling, Iceland’s Meteorological Office suspects that there is a very high likelihood of an eruption, somewhere along that 10-mile-long line of deformed and quaking ground, in the coming days.
—WIRED, 16 Nov. 2023
French Canadian woodsmen in the 1600s believed that the trees quaked in fear because the cross on which Jesus was crucified was made of aspen.
—Michael C Grant, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
Noun
An 1884 quake in Brooklyn did cause limited damage and injuries.
—Fox News, 21 Apr. 2024
The death toll from the quake has risen to 13, Taiwan’s National Fire Agency (NFA) said, after three bodies were found on a walking trail through the mountainous region.
—Wayne Chang, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
The last earthquake of similar magnitude to impact the region was in 2011, when a 5.8 quake struck central Virginia but was also felt across the East Coast.
—Solcyré Burga, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
People across the region were startled by the rumbling of the quake.
—Lucia Suarez Sang, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2024
Shaking from a single quake in the eastern U.S. can be felt much farther away than an equivalently powerful magnitude quake in California.
—Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024
The quake, which struck just before 10:30 a.m. local time, was centered near Lebanon, New Jersey, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said earlier Friday.
—Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024
Even with an epicenter in Virginia, the large quake caused evacuations and damage in the New York metro region.
—USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
The nearly 4-mile deep quake hit 19 miles from Morgan Hill at 1:09 a.m.
—Don Sweeney, Sacramento Bee, 10 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'quake.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near quake
Cite this Entry
“Quake.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quake. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
quake
1 of 2 verb
quaked; quaking
1
: to shake or vibrate usually from shock or lack of stability
2
: to tremble or shudder usually from cold or fear
quake
2 of 2 noun
: a shaking or trembling
especially
: earthquake
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