TREMBLING

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does trembling mean? 

• TREMBLING (noun)
  The noun TREMBLING has 1 sense:

1. a shaky motion

  Familiarity information: TREMBLING used as a noun is very rare.

• TREMBLING (adjective)
  The adjective TREMBLING has 1 sense:

1. vibrating slightly and irregularly; as e.g. with fear or cold or like the leaves of an aspen in a breeze

  Familiarity information: TREMBLING used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TREMBLING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A shaky motion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

palpitation; quiver; quivering; shakiness; shaking; trembling; vibration

Context example:

the shaking of his fingers as he lit his pipe

Hypernyms ("trembling" is a kind of...):

motion (a state of change)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "trembling"):

tremolo ((music) a tremulous effect produced by rapid repetition of a single tone or rapid alternation of two tones)

tremor (shaking or trembling (usually resulting from weakness or stress or disease))

Derivation:

tremble (move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways)

• TREMBLING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Vibrating slightly and irregularly; as e.g. with fear or cold or like the leaves of an aspen in a breeze

Synonyms:

shaky; shivering; trembling

Context example:

trembling hands

Similar:

unsteady (subject to change or variation)

 Context examples 

I laid my trembling hand upon the hand he put before his face.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

When all was settled, with fear and trembling she told Laurie, but to her surprise he took it very quietly.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I supported myself in the companion-way, weak and trembling, while the observation was being verified by the remarks of the rest of the men.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

But Lanyon’s face changed, and he held up a trembling hand.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

An instant later a white-faced, hard-breathing policeman had opened the door, the candle wavering in his trembling hand.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With trembling fingers he held it to the light.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I remember nothing until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The old man reached out a trembling hand and helped himself to a cigarette.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With white faces and trembling hands, we opened the door gently, and entered the room.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

She was feeling, thinking, trembling about everything; agitated, happy, miserable, infinitely obliged, absolutely angry.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)