convulsion.

1. A sudden, violent, involuntary contraction or shaking of the body.

2. A sudden, severe disturbance in a society, system, or situation.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• violent convulsion
• a series of convulsions

On the page

A convulsion ran through the creature before it became still.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror / gothic. Forms: Singular convulsion; plural convulsions. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common.