shock¹ / shäk/ • n. 1. a sudden upsetting or surprising event or experience: it was a shock to face such hostile attitudes when I arrived. ∎  a feeling of disturbed surprise resulting from such an event: her death gave us all a terrible shock| her eyes opened wide in shock. ∎  an acute medical condition associated with a fall in blood pressure, caused by such events as loss of blood, severe burns, bacterial infection, allergic reaction, or sudden emotional stress, and marked by cold, pallid skin, irregular breathing, rapid pulse, and dilated pupils: he died of shock due to massive abdominal hemorrhage. ∎  a disturbance causing instability in an economy: trading imbalances caused by the two oil shocks. ∎ short for electric shock.2. a violent shaking movement caused by an impact, explosion, or tremor: earthquake shocks | rackets today don't bend or absorb shock the way wooden rackets do. ∎ short for shock absorber.• v. 1. [tr.] (often be shocked) cause (someone) to feel surprised and upset: she was shocked at the state of his injuries. ∎  offend the moral feelings of; outrage: the revelations shocked the nation. ∎  [intr.] experience such feelings: he shocked so easily. ∎  (usu. be shocked) affect with physiological shock, or with an electric shock.2. [intr.] archaic collide violently: carriage after carriage shocked fiercely against the engine.DERIVATIVES: shock·a·bil·i·ty / -əˈbilitē/ n.shock·a·ble adj.shock² • n. a group of twelve sheaves of grain placed upright and supporting each other to allow the grain to dry and ripen.• v. [tr.] arrange (sheaves of grain) in such a group.shock³ • n. an unkempt or thick mass of hair: a slender man with an untamable shock of black hair.