upheaval meaning and definition

UPHEAVAL noun

Definition of upheaval (noun)

1. a state of violent disturbance and disorder (as in politics or social conditions generally)
   • "the industrial revolution was a period of great turbulence"
   • synonyms: Sturm und Drang, turbulence
2. a violent disturbance
   • "the convulsions of the stock market"
   • synonyms: convulsion, turmoil
3. (geology) a rise of land to a higher elevation (as in the process of mountain building)
   • synonyms: uplift, upthrow, upthrust
4. disturbance usually in protest
   • synonyms: agitation, excitement, hullabaloo, turmoil