jolt

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To move or dislodge with a sudden, hard blow; strike heavily or jarringly: jolted his opponent with a heavy punch; an impact that jolted the mailbox loose.
2. v. To cause to move jerkily: stops and starts that jolted the passengers.
3. v. To put into a specified condition by or as if by a blow: "Now and then he jolted a nodding reader awake by inserting a witty paragraph” ( Walter Blair).
4. v. To make suddenly active or effective: The remark jolted my memory.
5. v. To disturb suddenly and severely; stun: She was jolted by the betrayal of her trusted friend.
6. v. To proceed in an irregular, bumpy, or jerky fashion.
7. n. A sudden jarring or jerking, as from a heavy blow or an abrupt movement. See Synonyms at collision.
8. n. A sudden, strong feeling of surprise or disappointment; a shock.
9. n. The cause of such a feeling: The news came as a jolt.
10. n. A brief strong portion: a jolt of electricity; a jolt of whiskey.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To shake with sudden jerks, as in a carriage on rough ground, or on a high-trotting horse.
2. To move with short, abrupt risings and fallings, as a carriage on rough ground; have a shaking or jerking motion.
3. n. A shock or shake by a sudden jerk, as in a carriage.
4. n. plural Cabbage-plants that in the spring go to seed prematurely.
5. n. Synonyms Collision, Concussion, etc. See shock.

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive To push or shake abruptly and roughly.
2. v. transitive To knock sharply; to deal a blow to.
3. v. transitive To shock (someone) into taking action or being alert; as, to jolt someone out of complacency
4. v. transitive To shock emotionally.
5. v. intransitive To shake; to move with a series of jerks.
6. n. An act of jolting.
7. n. A surprise or shock.
8. n. slang A long prison sentence.
9. n. slang A narcotic injection.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To shake with short, abrupt risings and fallings, as a carriage moving on rough ground.
2. v. To cause to move with a sudden motion, especially an up and down motion, as in a carriage going over rough ground, or on a high-trotting horse
3. v. To stun or shock a person physically, as with a blow or electrical shock.
4. v. To stun or shock or change the mental state of (a person) suddenly, as if with a blow.
5. n. A sudden shock or jerk; a jolting motion, as in a carriage moving over rough ground.
6. n. A physical or psychological shock; see jolt v. t. senses 2 and 3.
7. n. Something which causes a jolt{2}.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. move or cause to move with a sudden jerky motion
2. v. disturb (someone's) composure
3. n. a sudden jarring impact
4. n. an abrupt spasmodic movement