Tremble
['tremb(ə)l] or ['trɛmbl]
Definition
(noun.) a reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement.
(verb.) move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways; 'His hands were trembling when he signed the document'.
Typist: Shane--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) To shake involuntarily, as with fear, cold, or weakness; to quake; to quiver; to shiver; to shudder; -- said of a person or an animal.
(v. i.) To totter; to shake; -- said of a thing.
(v. i.) To quaver or shake, as sound; to be tremulous; as the voice trembles.
(n.) An involuntary shaking or quivering.
Editor: Rodney
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. [1]. Quake, shudder, shiver, quiver.[2]. Shake, totter, oscillate, rock.[3]. Quaver.
Checked by Letitia
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Shake, quake, quiver, totter, shiver, shudder, vibrate, jar
ANT:Stand, steady, settle, still, calm
Edited by Constantine
Definition
v.i. to shake as from fear cold or weakness: to shiver: to shake as sound.—n. the act of trembling: a morbid trembling.—ns. Trem′blement; Trem′bler; Trem′bling.—adv. Trem′blingly.—n. Trem′bling-pop′lar the aspen.—adj. Trem′bly tremulous.—adv. tremulously.—adjs. Trem′ūlant Trem′ūlous trembling: affected with fear: quivering.—adv. Trem′ūlously.—n. Trem′ūlousness.
Typed by Katie
Examples
- I tremble when I touch her. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- If I shake and tremble, as we pass the gallows, don't you mind, but hurry on. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- The other said: Ah, that wonderful face is so humble, so pleading--it says as plainly as words could say it: 'I fear; I tremble; I am unworthy. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Fear overcame me; I dared not advance, dreading a thousand nameless evils that made me tremble, although I was unable to define them. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- Tremble, thou wretch, That hast within thee undivulged crimes Unwhipp'd of justice! Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- In a few minutes she ceased to tremble, and grew quiet and tranquil. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I might have been somebody's mamma, instead of--O, I tremble, I tremble, when I think how soon we must tell all! William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- With trembling hand she gave him the paper, and sat white and motionless looking at him while he read it. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- She spoke so modestly and softly and her trembling hand expressed such agitation as it moved to and fro upon the silent notes! Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- It kept up a slow fire of indignation and a trembling trouble of grief, which harassed and crushed me altogether. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- The trembling hand may have said, with some expression, 'Think of me, think how I have worked, think of my many cares! Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Oliver leaned his head upon his hand when the old man disappeared, and pondered, with a trembling heart, on the words he had just heard. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- My dear, how you are trembling! Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Mary came trembling towards him. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- Her voice faltered and her hand trembled, and it was only the cold question of Ivanhoe, Is it you, gentle maiden? Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Courageous as I am by nature, I absolutely trembled at the idea! Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- He trembled pitifully as the undertaker's man was arranging his crape draperies around him. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- The man trembled from head to foot, but he held firm. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Yet I almost trembled for fear of making the answer too cordial: Graham's tastes are so fastidious. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- I tried a second time to run out and find Laura, but my head was giddy and my knees trembled under me. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Large tears trembled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- You speak against a tiny disc of sheet-iron, and the disc trembles. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- I think Mademoiselle Lucy will now confess that the cord and gallows are amply earned; she trembles in anticipation of her doom. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- It has millions and millions of varieties of trembles, as many as there are sounds in the universe. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- She stares, trembles, and curtseys, whenever I speak to her. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Thus a man in a strong prison well-guarded, without the least means of escape, trembles at the thought of the rack, to which he is sentenced. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- But when he approaches, the doors slam to with a crash, the earth trembles, and all the lights in Jerusalem burn a ghastly blue! Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Even the lion trembles in fear, whispered Mr. Philander. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Editor: Maynard