quivering

American  

[kwiv-uh-ring] / ˈkwɪv ə rɪŋ /

adjective

1. trembling or shaking with a slight, rapid motion, or seeming to tremble or shake.

   The sun climbed higher and movement ceased: over the whole summit, figures lay still in the quivering heat.

   Forty hertz is really fast, like the quivering light from a faulty fluorescent bulb.

---

noun

1. an act or instance of shaking with a slight but rapid motion.

   The quivering in the heart upsets the normal rhythm between the atria and the lower parts of the heart, the ventricles.

Other Word Forms

• quiveringly adverb
• unquivering adjective

Etymology

Origin of quivering

First recorded in 1530–40; quiver ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective; quiver ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun

Example Sentences

That humming and quivering broke away the last little pieces of my rock-hard heart that I didn’t even know were still there, and tears came out of my eyes, but I wasn’t crying.

From Literature

"Cathy and Heathcliff's passions vibrate through their dress, their surroundings, and everything else within reach, and you leave the cinema quivering on their own private frequency."

From BBC

Jonathan turned his head enough to peer out; he saw the redwood branches quivering from the impact.

From Literature

Day and night, it guided a long, narrow piece of paper moving faithfully underneath a quivering black pen.

From Literature

“I feel like if I would have stayed home, it would have gone worse for me,” she said, her lip quivering.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• shaking
• shivering
• trembling