I. jolt 1 /dʒəʊlt $ dʒoʊlt/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: Perhaps from joll 'to hit' (15-19 centuries) + jot 'to knock against' (16-19 centuries) ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to move suddenly and roughly, or to make someone or something move in this way SYN jerk :
We jolted along rough wet roads through an endless banana plantation.
2 . [transitive] to give someone a sudden shock or surprise:
The phone jolted him awake.
jolt somebody into/out of something
It jolted me into making the decision to quit.
Her sharp words seemed to jolt him out of his depression.
II. jolt 2 BrE AmE noun [countable usually singular]
1 . a sudden shock
jolt of
Melanie experienced a jolt of surprise.
with a jolt
Henry sat up with a jolt.
The oil crisis has given the government quite a jolt.
2 . a sudden rough shaking movement:
People felt the first jolt of the earthquake at about 8 am.