fleshquake
English
Etymology
flesh + quake
Noun
fleshquake (plural fleshquakes)
- A tremor or quiver of the body.
- 1877, George Manville Fenn, A little world, volume 3, page 260:
- Not he! beadles don't smile in public life, only when out of uniform; and as to using a handkerchief, he could not do that, unless compelled by such a fleshquake or sneeze as now shakes Mr Purkis's frame, caused by that sooty dust that pervades the church and not by damp.
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References
- 1777, Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language: "A tremour of the body ; a word formed by Johnson in imitation of earthquake."