THRILL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does thrill mean? 

• THRILL (noun)
  The noun THRILL has 3 senses:

1. the swift release of a store of affective force

2. an almost pleasurable sensation of fright

3. something that causes you to experience a sudden intense feeling or sensation

  Familiarity information: THRILL used as a noun is uncommon.

• THRILL (verb)
  The verb THRILL has 4 senses:

1. cause to be thrilled by some perceptual input

2. feel sudden intense sensation or emotion

3. tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement

4. fill with sublime emotion

  Familiarity information: THRILL used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THRILL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The swift release of a store of affective force

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

bang; boot; charge; flush; kick; rush; thrill

Context example:

he does it for kicks

Hypernyms ("thrill" is a kind of...):

excitement; exhilaration (the feeling of lively and cheerful joy)

Derivation:

thrill (feel sudden intense sensation or emotion)

thrill (fill with sublime emotion)

thrill (cause to be thrilled by some perceptual input)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An almost pleasurable sensation of fright

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

chill; frisson; quiver; shiver; shudder; thrill; tingle

Context example:

a frisson of surprise shot through him

Hypernyms ("thrill" is a kind of...):

fear; fearfulness; fright (an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight))

Derivation:

thrill (feel sudden intense sensation or emotion)

thrill (fill with sublime emotion)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Something that causes you to experience a sudden intense feeling or sensation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the thrills of space travel

Hypernyms ("thrill" is a kind of...):

excitation; excitement (something that agitates and arouses)

Derivation:

thrill (feel sudden intense sensation or emotion)

thrill (fill with sublime emotion)

• THRILL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they thrill    ... he / she / it thrills   
Past simple: thrilled   
Past participle: thrilled   
-ing form: thrilling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to be thrilled by some perceptual input

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

The men were thrilled by a loud whistle blow

Hypernyms (to "thrill" is one way to...):

excite; stimulate; stir (stir feelings in)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

thrill (the swift release of a store of affective force)

thriller (a suspenseful adventure story or play or movie)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Feel sudden intense sensation or emotion

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

thrill; tickle; vibrate

Context example:

he was thrilled by the speed and the roar of the engine

Hypernyms (to "thrill" is one way to...):

excite; shake; shake up; stimulate; stir (stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

thrill (something that causes you to experience a sudden intense feeling or sensation)

thrill (an almost pleasurable sensation of fright)

thrill (the swift release of a store of affective force)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

shiver; shudder; thrill; throb

Hypernyms (to "thrill" is one way to...):

tremble (move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Fill with sublime emotion

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

beatify; exalt; exhilarate; inebriate; thrill; tickle pink

Context example:

He was inebriated by his phenomenal success

Hypernyms (to "thrill" is one way to...):

elate; intoxicate; lift up; pick up; uplift (fill with high spirits; fill with optimism)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will thrill him
The performance is likely to thrill Sue

Derivation:

thrill (something that causes you to experience a sudden intense feeling or sensation)

thrill (an almost pleasurable sensation of fright)

thrill (the swift release of a store of affective force)

 Context examples 

At the sound of it, a thrill went through my frame.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The opportunity will come out of the blue and thrill you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

How this phrase thrilled through me!

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I now clapped my hands in sudden joy—my pulse bounded, my veins thrilled.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It gives a thrill to life, he explained to me, when life is carried in one’s hand.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It took the place of like, which latter had been the highest feeling that thrilled him in his intercourse with the gods.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The weak man becomes strong when he has nothing, for then only can he feel the wild, mad thrill of despair.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

These were thrilling words, and wound up Catherine's feelings to the highest point of ecstasy.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The least sound of it was a stimulus to his love, and he thrilled and throbbed with every word she uttered.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

She passed down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see what passed in the hall beneath.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)