Meaning & use
shell shock
A psychological condition, marked by anxiety, exhaustion, and nightmares, caused by prolonged exposure to combat, especially heavy shelling.
See it in a sentence
Many World War I veterans returned home suffering from shell shock that doctors barely understood.
He still flinched at loud noises, a lingering sign of shell shock from his years in combat.
A note on using this word
Shell shock is an older, informal term now largely replaced by the clinical diagnosis post-traumatic stress disorder.
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