fleshquake

English

Etymology

flesh +‎ quake

Noun

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

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