QUIVERING

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does quivering mean? 

• QUIVERING (noun)
  The noun QUIVERING has 2 senses:

1. a shaky motion

2. the act of vibrating

  Familiarity information: QUIVERING used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• QUIVERING (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 ("quivering" is a kind of...):

motion (a state of change)

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

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:

quiver (shake with fast, tremulous movements)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of vibrating

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

quiver; quivering; vibration

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

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

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

shudder; tremor (an involuntary vibration (as if from illness or fear))

 Context examples 

I saw the flashing black eyes, and the passion-wasted figure; and I saw the scar, with its white track cutting through her lips, quivering and throbbing as she spoke.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She had been hurt to the quick, and her sensitive nature was quivering with the shame of it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

On the evening of the third he rushed into our sitting-room, pale, trembling, with every muscle of his powerful frame quivering with excitement.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And with a quivering lip he wound up the whole by adding, "Poor Fanny! she would not have forgotten him so soon!"

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

A pleasant “thank you” seemed meant to laugh it off, but a blush, a quivering lip, a tear in the eye, shewed that it was felt beyond a laugh.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Lord Avon staggered forward, and it was only his son on one side and his wife on the other who kept his quivering hands from the throat of his insulter.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was waiting on the platform when we stepped out, and we could see in the light of the station lamps that he was very pale, and quivering with agitation.

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

The Duke took a pen in his quivering fingers and opened his check-book.

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

“Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet,” cried the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers.

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

There was a buzz and murmur among the white-frocked brethren at this grave charge; but the Abbot held up his long quivering hand.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)