- a region of abrupt change of pressure and density moving as a wave front at or above the velocity of sound, caused by an intense explosion or supersonic flow over a body.
- a repercussion from a startling event or upheaval; series of aftereffects: shock waves from the recent collapse of one of the nation's largest banks.
- 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
- a feeling of shock, horror, surprise, etc that affects many people as it spreads through a community
- 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
