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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

earthquake

/ˈɝθkweɪk/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:03
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What does earthquake mean?

noun

  1. A shaking of the ground, caused by volcanic activity or movement around geologic faults.
  2. Such a quake specifically occurring on the planet Earth, as opposed to other celestial bodies.
  3. (figuratively) A sudden and intense upheaval; a severely disruptive event.
More meanings (1)

verb

  1. To undergo an earthquake.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈɝθkweɪk/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

There must have been a slight sensation, as of earthquake, surely, in the Vatican, when the first Italian railroad was thrown open.
Charles DickensPictures from ItalyProject Gutenberg ebook #650
The island itself as plainly showed the overwhelming power of the earthquake, as the beach did that of the consequent great wave.
Charles DarwinThe Voyage of the BeagleProject Gutenberg ebook #944
More book examples (3)
But the strangeness of some of the tricks which the earthquake shocks play is hardly to be explained, even by scientific men.
Charles KingsleyMadam How and Lady Why; Or, First Lessons in Earth Lore for ChildrenProject Gutenberg ebook #1697
While writing this, Nietzsche is supposed to have been thinking of the island of Ischia which was ultimately destroyed by an earthquake.
Friedrich Wilhelm NietzscheThus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and NoneTranslated by Thomas CommonProject Gutenberg ebook #1998
It came up with an earthquake, and "a water-spout sixty feet high and eight hundred yards in circumference rising from the sea."
Ignatius DonnellyAtlantis: The Antedeluvian WorldProject Gutenberg ebook #4032