A shock wave is an area of very high pressure moving through the air, earth, or water. It is caused by an explosion or an earthquake, or by an object travelling faster than sound.
The shock waves yesterday were felt from Las Vegas to San Diego.
2. countable noun
A shock wave is the effect of something surprising, such as a piece of unpleasant news, that causes strong reactions when it spreads through a place.
The crime sent shock waves throughout the country.
Synonyms: wave More Synonyms of shock wave
shock wave in British English
noun
1.
a region across which there is a rapid pressure, temperature, and density rise, usually caused by a body moving supersonically in a gas or by a detonation
Often shortened to: shock. See also sonic boom, shock tube
2.
a feeling of shock, horror, surprise, etc that affects many people as it spreads through a community
3.
the effect created on a queue of moving cars in the lane of a motorway when one car brakes suddenly and the cars behind have to brake as well, causing cars to slow down, sometimes for miles behind the first braking car
shock wave in American English
1.
a surface of discontinuity in a flow of air, sound, etc. set up when the flow suddenly changes from subsonic to supersonic, characterized by marked increases in temperature, pressure, and density of the flow, as in supersonic flow about anairplane wing
2.
blast (sense 6) blast (sense 6c)
shock wave in Mechanical Engineering
(ʃɒk weɪv)
Word forms: (regular plural) shock waves
noun
(Mechanical engineering: Fluid engineering)
A shock wave is a type of wave in a fluid in which there is a sudden change in pressure, for example when a very fast solid object moves in the fluid.
The energy of the blast caused a shock wave to travel through the water.
Pressurized gas is released into a shock tube to generate a shock wave.
A shock wave is a type of wave in a fluid in which there is a sudden change in pressure, for examplewhen a very fast solid object moves in the fluid.
Examples of 'shock wave' in a sentence
shock wave
The news sent shock waves through the world.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
In other languages
shock wave
British English: shock wave NOUN
A shock wave is an area of very high pressure moving through the air, earth, or water. It is caused by an explosion or an earthquake, or by an object travelling faster than sound.
The shock waves yesterday were felt across the region.