Word.ws English Dictionary

after-shock

after-shock is the alternative spelling of aftershock.

Meaning of aftershock

Noun

aftershock (countable and uncountable, plural aftershocks)

  1. An earthquake that follows in the same vicinity as another, usually larger, earthquake (the "mainshock").
    • It was not a peace that brought joy – it was one that created an oppressive tension like the calm between a major earthquake and the aftershock.2011, Raymond Gordon, The Ecclesiastical Chronicles, Volume Two: The Society, →ISBN, page 278
    Synonyms:
    afterquake
  2. (figuratively) By extension, any result or consequence following a major event.
    • The collapse of the financial market sixty days later was the aftershock.2011, Jeremy Rifkin, The Third Industrial Revolution, →ISBN
  3. Emotional and physical distress following a traumatic event.
    • Far from being an emotional aftershock following an event that upsets our whole world, horror is what first discloses to us the upsetting possibility that our world as a whole can cease to be.1992, Jerome A. Miller, In the Throe of Wonder, →ISBN, page 129

Forms of after-shock

pluralafter-shocks

Questions about after-shock

What is after-shock the alternative spelling of?
After-shock is the alternative spelling of aftershock.

Words near after-shock in the dictionary

  1. after-sensations
  2. after-shaft
  3. after-shafts
  4. after-shave
  5. after-shaves
  6. after-shock
  7. after-shocks
  8. after-stroke
  9. after-strokes
  10. after-taste
  11. after-tastes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: after-shock (page history and authors); aftershock (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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