[kənˈvʌls], (Verb)

Definitions:
- suffer violent involuntary contraction of the muscles, producing contortion of the body or limbs
(e.g: she convulsed, collapsing to the floor with the pain)

- throw (a country) into violent social or political upheaval
(e.g: a wave of mass strikes convulsed the Ruhr, Berlin, and central Germany)


Phrases:

Origin:
mid 17th century: from Latin convuls- ‘pulled violently, wrenched’, from the verb convellere, from con- ‘together’ + vellere ‘to pull’