A big, sudden change that causes disorder or disruption. In geology, it also means the lifting of the Earth's crust.
From 'upheave' (to lift up with force) + '-al', first used in the 1800s. 'Heave' comes from Old English 'hebban' meaning 'to lift, raise'.
Upheaval started as a physical word for land being pushed upward, then shifted to describe social and emotional 'earthquakes'. When people say 'political upheaval', they’re picturing the ground of society itself being lifted and broken.
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