Convoy
(Con"voy) n. [F. convoi.]
1. The act of attending for defense; the state of being so attended; protection; escort.
To obtain the convoy of a man-of-war.
Macaulay.
2. A vessel or fleet, or a train or trains of wagons, employed in the transportation of munitions of war,
money, subsistence, clothing, etc., and having an armed escort.
3. A protection force accompanying ships, etc., on their way from place to place, by sea or land; an escort,
for protection or guidance.
When every morn my bosom glowed
To watch the convoy on the road.
Emerson.
4. Conveyance; means of transportation. [Obs.] Shak.
5. A drag or brake applied to the wheels of a carriage, to check their velocity in going down a hill. Knight.
Convulse
(Con*vulse") v. t. [imp. & p. p. Convulsed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Convulsing.] [L. convulsus,
p. p. of convellere to tear up, to shake; con- + vellere to pluck, pull.]
1. To contract violently and irregulary, as the muscular parts of an animal body; to shake with irregular
spasms, as in excessive laughter, or in agony from grief or pain.
With emotions which checked his voice and convulsed his powerful frame.
Macaulay.
2. To agitate greatly; to shake violently.
The world is convulsed by the agonies of great nations.
Macaulay.
Syn. — To agitate; disturb; shake; tear; rend.
Convulsion
(Con*vul"sion) n. [L. convulsio: cf. F. convulsion.]
1. (Med.) An unnatural, violent, and unvoluntary contraction of the muscular parts of an animal body.
2. Any violent and irregular motion or agitation; a violent shaking; a tumult; a commotion.
Those two massy pillars,
With horrible convulsion, to and fro
He tugged, he shook, till down they came.
Milton.
Times of violence and convulsion.
Ames.
Syn. — Agitation; commotion; tumult; disturbance.
Convulsional
(Con*vul"sion*al) a. Pertaining to, or having, convulsions; convulsionary. [R.] Lamb.
Convulsionary
(Con*vul"sion*a*ry) a. [Cf. F. convulsionnaire.] Pertaining to convulsion; convulsive.
"Convulsionary struggles." Sir W. Scott.
Convulsionary
(Con*vul"sion*a*ry), n. A convulsionist.
Convulsionist
(Con*vul"sion*ist), n. One who has convulsions; esp., one of a body of fanatics in France,
early in the eighteenth century, who went into convulsions under the influence of religious emotion; as,
the Convulsionists of St. Médard.
