quake

English

Etymology

From Middle English quaken, from Old English cwacian (“to quake, tremble, chatter”), from Proto-Germanic *kwakōną (“to shake, quiver, tremble”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷog- (“to shake, swing”), related to Old English cweċċan (“to shake, swing, move, vibrate, shake off, give up”) (see quitch), Dutch kwakkelen (“to ail, be ailing”), German Quackelei (“chattering”), Danish kvakle (“to bungle”), Latin vexō (“toss, shake violently, jostle, vex”), Irish bogadh (“a move, movement, shift, change”).

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kweɪk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪk

Noun

quake (plural quakes)

1. A trembling or shaking.

   We felt a quake in the apartment every time the train went by.

2. An earthquake, a trembling of the ground with force.

   California is plagued by quakes; there are a few minor ones almost every month.

   • 1985, “Miami, My Amy”, in L.A. to Miami, performed by Keith Whitley:

     Well, everybody talks about the California quakes
     But the first time I ever felt the earth shake
     Was in Miami, when Amy touched me.

3. (figurative) Something devastating, like a strong earthquake.
   • 2024 January 24, Dyan Perry talks to Nick Brodrick, “The industry has given me so much”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 44:

     But HS1 was more exposed to the COVID quake than most given its inherent reliance on international travel, which had collapsed, leaving cross-Channel operator Eurostar stacked with millions of debt.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

quake (third-person singular simple present quakes, present participle quaking, simple past and past participle quaked or (archaic) quoke or (obsolete) quook)

1. (intransitive) To tremble or shake.

   I felt the ground quaking beneath my feet.

   • a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the page number)”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912, →OCLC:

     Dorus threw Pamela behind a tree; where she stood quaking like the partridge on which the hawk is even ready to seize.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Nahum 1:5:

     The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his presence.

2. (intransitive, figurative) To be in a state of fear, shock, amazement, etc., such as might cause one to tremble.
   • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter III, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, →OCLC:

     Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

   • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     If Cupid have not spent all his quiver in / Venice, thou wilt quake for this shortly.

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Now could I drink hot blood / And do such bitter business as the bitter day / Would quake to look on.

   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies.  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Who honours not his father, Henry the fifth, that made all France to quake, Shake he his weapon at us, and pass by.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Ezekiel 12:18:

     Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and carefulness.

Derived terms

Translations

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

quake

1. inflection of quaken:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. singular imperative
   3. first/third-person singular subjunctive I

Middle English

Verb

quake

1. Alternative form of quaken