convulsion

Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

con·vul·sion [convulsion convulsions] BrE [kənˈvʌlʃn] NAmE [kənˈvʌlʃn] noun usually plural
(rather formal)
1. a sudden shaking movement of the body that cannot be controlled
•The child went into convulsions.
Syn: ↑fit
2. a sudden important change that happens to a country or an organization
Syn: ↑upheaval
•political convulsions threatening the stability of new democracies

Word Origin:
mid 16th cent. (originally in the sense ‘cramp, spasm’): from Latin convulsio(n-), from the verb convellere, from con- ‘together’ + vellere ‘to pull’.

Example Bank:
•The patient lost consciousness and went into convulsions.
•He felt a sudden convulsion of fear at the pit of his stomach.
•She started to have convulsions again.
•The drug can cause paranoia, memory loss and convulsions.

• Từ đồng nghĩa / Synonyms:
  turmoil, upheaval, paroxysm, fit