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
Big Think, 24 June 2024
The mortals among us would have been quaking with that kind of weight on our shoulders.
—Mirjam Swanson, Orange County Register, 4 Apr. 2024
Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 24 June 2024
Death Without Mercy includes their footage, other first-hand video shot by survivors, CCTV video of the quake and aftershocks, and drone footage showing the immensity of the damage.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 21 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for quake 
Verb
Distributed acoustic sensing — DAS — picks up tremors from volcanoes, quaking ice and deep-sea faults, as well as traffic rumbles and whale calls.
—Big Think, 24 June 2024
The mortals among us would have been quaking with that kind of weight on our shoulders.
—Mirjam Swanson, Orange County Register, 4 Apr. 2024
Noun
Highland Park, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, and Cobb, which is 41.5 miles northwest from Napa Valley, each felt quakes at magnitudes of 3.2.
—Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 24 June 2024
Death Without Mercy includes their footage, other first-hand video shot by survivors, CCTV video of the quake and aftershocks, and drone footage showing the immensity of the damage.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 21 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for quake
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 4 Jul. 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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share