|Origin:||, past participle of convellere 'to pull violently', from com- ( COM-) + vellere 'to pull out'|
if your body or a part of it convulses, it moves violently and you are not able to control it:
He sat down, his shoulders convulsing with sobs.
to be laughing so much or feel so angry that you shake and are not able to stop yourself
if something such as a war convulses a country, it causes a lot of problems or confusion:
A wave of nationalist demonstrations convulsed the country in 1919.