Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1600-1700
Language: Latin
Origin: , past participle of convellere 'to pull violently', from com- ( COM-) + vellere 'to pull out'

convulse

 verb
     
con‧vulse
1 [intransitive] if your body or a part of it convulses, it moves violently and you are not able to control it:
He sat down, his shoulders convulsing with sobs.
2

be convulsed with laughter/anger etc

to be laughing so much or feel so angry that you shake and are not able to stop yourself
3 [transitive] if something such as a war convulses a country, it causes a lot of problems or confusion:
A wave of nationalist demonstrations convulsed the country in 1919.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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