quivering

[ kwiv-uh-ring ]

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 Words From

• quiv·er·ing·ly adverb
• un·quiv·er·ing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of quivering¹

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

Related Words

• shaking
• shivering
• trembling