tremble
[trem-buhl]
- to shake involuntarily with quick, short movements, as from fear, excitement, weakness, or cold; quake; quiver.
- to be troubled with fear or apprehension.
- (of things) to be affected with vibratory motion.
- to be tremulous, as light or sound: His voice trembled.
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- the act of trembling.
- a state or fit of trembling.
- trembles, (used with a singular verb)
- Pathology.milk sickness.
- Veterinary Pathology.a toxic condition of cattle and sheep caused by the eating of white snakeroot and characterized by muscular tremors.
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Origin of tremble
1275–1325; Middle English trem(b)len (v.) < Old French trembler < Vulgar Latin *tremulāre, derivative of Latin tremulus tremulous
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
quiverthrobwobbleshuddershiverfluttertotterpalpitateteeterjarquakerocktremorquaveroscillatejitterExamples from the Web for tremble
Contemporary Examples
The city, the state, the whole land, were ready to rise and tremble before the Pallid Mask.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the ShowRobert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
He began to read, raising his eyebrows with a puzzled, whimsical air, which made me tremble with suppressed anger.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the ShowRobert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
Who is this woman going toe-to-toe with Wintour, when all others appear to tremble, and who excels because of it?
Vogue Creative Director Grace Coddington’s Memoir Offers Few RevelationsRobin Givhan
November 20, 2012
I just tremble when I think about how tremendous this moment is.
During this time, the ground continued to tremble, albeit less violently.
Historical Examples
If they tremble down the fine-skinned cheek, let us avert our gaze.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
Humans are funniest when they weep and tremble before, like you say, 'the facts in the case.'
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
It squeaked under his weight, he felt the rungs bow and tremble.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
Just then, up came my father, with a sternness in his looks that made me tremble.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
There are ghosts whom I tremble to meet, and cannot think of without a shudder.
Other Tales and SketchesNathaniel Hawthorne
tremble
- to vibrate with short slight movements; quiver
- to shake involuntarily, as with cold or fear; shiver
- to experience fear or anxiety
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- the act or an instance of trembling
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French trembler, from Medieval Latin tremulāre, from Latin tremulus quivering, from tremere to quake
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for tremble
v.
c.1300, "shake from fear, cold, etc.," from Old French trembler "tremble, fear" (11c.), from Vulgar Latin *tremulare (source of Italian tremolare, Spanish temblar), from Latin tremulus "trembling, tremulous," from tremere "to tremble, shiver, quake," from PIE *trem- "to tremble" (cf. Greek tremein "to shiver, tremble," Lithuanian trimu "to chase away," Old Church Slavonic treso "to shake," Gothic þramstei "grasshopper"). A native word for this was Old English bifian. Related: Trembled; trembling. The noun is recorded from c.1600.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper