English

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Etymology

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flesh +‎ quake

Noun

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fleshquake (plural fleshquakes)

  1. A tremor or quiver of the body.
    • 1877, George Manville Fenn, A little world, volume 3, page 260:
      Not he! beadles don't smile in public life, only when out of uniform; and as to using a handkerchief, he could not do that, unless compelled by such a fleshquake or sneeze as now shakes Mr Purkis's frame, caused by that sooty dust that pervades the church and not by damp.

References

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  • Samuel Johnson (1777) “A tremour of the body ; a word formed by Johnson in imitation of earthquake.”, in A Dictionary of the English Language