Definition of "jolt" []

• To move or dislodge with a sudden, hard blow; strike heavily or jarringly: jolted his opponent with a heavy punch; an impact that jolted the mailbox loose. (verb-transitive)
• To cause to move jerkily: stops and starts that jolted the passengers. (verb-transitive)
• To put into a specified condition by or as if by a blow: "Now and then he jolted a nodding reader awake by inserting a witty paragraph” ( Walter Blair). (verb-transitive)
• To make suddenly active or effective: The remark jolted my memory. (verb-transitive)
• To disturb suddenly and severely; stun: She was jolted by the betrayal of her trusted friend. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He had come to the decision that Ruth needed what he called a jolt to bring her to herself, much as a sleep-walker is aroused by the touch of"
• "Such jobs cannot be created by a short-term jolt of government spending, or by cutting government investments in education, science, technology, and infrastructure."
• "Japan may have provided a short-term jolt to uranium prices, but the new generation of nuclear plants slated for the world's fastest growing economies is still intact."