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 Word Forms

• quiveringly adverb
• unquivering 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

Example Sentences

He looks at the sheep he’s about to ride with quivering lips.

From Los Angeles Times

Pull your achy body off the couch every day and work those quivering muscles, stretch those tight joints, perhaps join one of the many Parkinson’s programs in town that involve everything from dancing to hiking.

From Los Angeles Times

Camil’s lips start quivering after this line, and he fights back tears as he haltingly finishes.

From Salon

In Reno, about 50 miles northwest of the quake’s epicenter, someone at KTVN-TV captured a video of the star on the newsroom’s Christmas tree still quivering — barely — as staffers scrambled to cover the earthquake.

From Los Angeles Times

“A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results,” Harris said, her voice quivering.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• shaking 
• shivering www.thesaurus.com
• trembling www.thesaurus.com