Upheave

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To lift or raise something with great force from below, or to cause violent disturbance or upheaval in a physical or social system
2. To thrust upward with violent force or disrupt the established order through sudden convulsive movement
3. To raise or lift with great effort from beneath, or to disturb and displace fundamentally

Etymology: Upheave is a straightforward compound: the prefix "up-" joined to "heave," meaning to lift or haul with effort. The Old English form "ūpāhebban" already carried the sense of lifting up, raising, or even rising into the air, and it could also mean to exalt someone. Its German and Dutch relatives show the same pattern, with "aufheben" and "opheffen" both meaning to lift or raise. Over the centuries the literal sense of heaving something up gradually gave way to a more figurative one. The modern meaning of disturbing and displacing something fundamentally grows naturally from the idea of a great force pushing up through the ground or a surface, such as an earthquake or frost lifting a road, and shifting what lay beneath it.

Synonyms: heave, lift