different between reversal vs earthquake

English

Etymology

reverse +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???v??(?)s?l/
• Rhymes: -??(?)s?l

Noun

reversal (countable and uncountable, plural reversals)

1. The state of being reversed.
2. An instance of reversing.
3. A change in fortune; a change from being successful to having problems.

Usage notes

Reversal of trains often takes place at a terminus, where the driver walks to the cab at the other end of the train; if hauled by a locomotive, that moves to the other end if the train if the train has no driving cab at the other end.

Synonyms

• reversion

Translations

Adjective

reversal (not comparable)

1. Intended to reverse; implying reversal.

   • For after his death there were reversal letters found among his papers from the Duke of Anjou

Derived terms

• reversalism
• reversalist
• reversality
• reversally

Anagrams

• ravelers, slaverer

Spanish

Adjective

reversal (plural reversales)

1. used to describe a type of diplomatic note

Usage notes

• It is used almost exclusively in the terms carta reversal or nota reversal

English

Etymology

From Middle English erthequake, erd-quake, corresponding to earth +? quake. Compare similar formations in eorþbeofung (“earthquake”, literally “earth-shaking”), eorþdyne (“earthquake”, literally “earth-din”), eorþstyring (“earthquake”, literally “earth-stirring”), eorþhr?rness (“earthquake”, literally “earth-stirring”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /????kwe?k/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???kwe?k/

Noun

earthquake (plural earthquakes)

1. A shaking of the ground, caused by volcanic activity or movement around geologic faults. [from 14th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.2:

     Her alablaster brest she soft did kis, / Which all that while shee felt to pant and quake, / As it an Earth-quake were: at last she thus bespake.

   • 2006, Declan Walsh, The Guardian, 6 Oct 2006:

     Last year's earthquake crushed his house, his livelihood and very nearly his leg, he said, pointing to a plastered limb that refuses to heal.

2. (planetary geology) Such a quake specifically occurring on the planet Earth, as opposed to other celestial bodies. [from 20th c.]
   • 1988, Jürgen Oberst and Yosio Nakamura, “A seismic risk for the lunar base” in The Second Conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century, Vol. 1, p. 231-233, NASA:

     Since the response of some man-made structures to the ground motion near the epicenter is highly dependent on frequency, a significant difference in potential damage to the structures is expected between earthquakes and moonquakes.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• moonquake
• seaquake
• starquake

Translations

Verb

earthquake (third-person singular simple present earthquakes, present participle earthquaking, simple past and past participle earthquaked)

1. (intransitive) To undergo an earthquake.
   • 1993, Gyeorgos C. Hatonn, The Best of Times: The Worst of Times (page 129)

     Watch the Philippines very closely for the next little while. There is rumbling and earthquaking deep within Pinatubo and increased earthquaking within Mayon.

See also

• aftershock
• earthquake engineering
• fault line
• Richter scale
• seismic
• seismograph
• seismologist
• seismology
• tremor
• tsunami

Further reading

• earthquake on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Tectonic hazards/Earthquake on Wikiversity.Wikiversity
• Category:Animations of earthquake impact on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• heartquake

Scots

Alternative forms

• yirthquake, yearthquawk

Noun

earthquake (plural earthquakes)

1. earthquake

   Synonym: yirdquauk