[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

upheaval \upheav"al\, n.
   the act of upheaving, or the state of being upheaved; esp.,
   an elevation of a portion of the earth's crust. --lubbock.
   1913 webster

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

upheaval
     n 1: a state of violent disturbance and disorder as in politics
          or social conditions generally; "the industrial
          revolution was a period of great turbulence" syn: turbulence,
           sturm und drang
     2: a violent disturbance; "the convulsions of the stock market"
        syn: convulsion, turmoil
     3: geology a rise of land to a higher elevation as in the
        process of mountain building syn: uplift, upthrow, upthrust
     4: disturbance usually in protest syn: agitation, excitement,
         turmoil, hullabaloo
see also:
turbulence sturm und drang convulsion turmoil uplift upthrow 
upthrust agitation excitement hullabaloo 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

142 moby thesaurus words for "upheaval":
   about-face, accommodation, adaptation, adjustment, alteration,
   amelioration, apoplexy, apostasy, apotheosis, ascent, assumption,
   beatification, betterment, blaze, bouleversement, break, breakup,
   burst, canonization, cataclysm, catastrophe, change,
   change of heart, changeableness, chaos, clamor, climax, commotion,
   confusion, constructive change, continuity, conversion, convulsion,
   cyclone, defection, degeneration, degenerative change, deification,
   deterioration, deviation, diastrophism, difference, disaster,
   discontinuity, disorder, disruption, disturbance, divergence,
   diversification, diversion, diversity, downfall, elevation,
   enshrinement, erection, eruption, escalation, exaltation,
   explosion, fall, ferment, fit, fitting, flare-up, flip-flop, furor,
   furore, gale, gradual change, gust, heaving, height, hurricane,
   improvement, irruption, lifting, melioration, mitigation,
   modification, modulation, outbreak, outburst, outcry, overthrow,
   overturn, paroxysm, prostration, quake, qualification,
   radical change, raising, re-creation, realignment, rearing,
   redesign, reform, reformation, remaking, renewal, reshaping,
   restructuring, reversal, revival, revivification, revolution,
   sabotage, seizure, shift, spasm, stirring, storm, stroke,
   subversion, sudden change, sursum corda, switch, temblor, tempest,
   tidal wave, tornado, total change, transition, tsunami, tumult,
   turn, turnabout, unrest, upbuoying, upcast, uplift, uplifting,
   upping, uprearing, upset, upthrow, upthrust, upturn, variation,
   variety, violent change, whirlwind, worsening

Upheaval >> U Words
Upheaval, definition of term: Upheaval
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