SHUDDER

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does shudder mean? 

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

1. an almost pleasurable sensation of fright

2. an involuntary vibration (as if from illness or fear)

  Familiarity information: SHUDDER used as a noun is rare.

• SHUDDER (verb)
  The verb SHUDDER has 2 senses:

1. shake, as from cold

2. tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement

  Familiarity information: SHUDDER used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHUDDER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An almost pleasurable sensation of fright

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

chill; frisson; quiver; shiver; shudder; thrill; tingle

Context example:

a frisson of surprise shot through him

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

fear; fearfulness; fright (an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight))

Derivation:

shuddery (provoking fear terror)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An involuntary vibration (as if from illness or fear)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

shudder; tremor

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

quiver; quivering; vibration (the act of vibrating)

Derivation:

shudder (shake, as from cold)

shudder (tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement)

• SHUDDER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they shudder    ... he / she / it shudders   
Past simple: shuddered   
Past participle: shuddered   
-ing form: shuddering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Shake, as from cold

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

shiver; shudder

Context example:

The children are shivering--turn on the heat!

Hypernyms (to "shudder" is one way to...):

move involuntarily; move reflexively (move in an uncontrolled manner)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

shiver; shudder; thrill; throb

Hypernyms (to "shudder" is one way to...):

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

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

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

 Context examples 

Well, father, he replied, I am quite willing to learn something—indeed, if it could but be managed, I should like to learn how to shudder.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

If I lay on my face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to think of that dreadful snap.

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

She shuddered and was silent, holding down her head on her husband's breast.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

She shook her head with a shudder.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I felt as if I was about the commission of a dreadful crime and avoided with shuddering anxiety any encounter with my fellow creatures.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

“It was crimson,” said he, with a shudder—“crimson with black cracks, and from every crack—but I will give you dreams, sister Mary.”

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He shuddered, and again made a sound between a cough and a sob.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Oh, it was frightful!" he added, shuddering.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She shuddered, tossed about in her bed, and envied every quiet sleeper.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

And yet I shuddered at the position in which I found myself, and would have given all I possessed at that moment to have been honorably free of the whole business.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)