shiver Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement
    tremble; shake.
  2. noun an almost pleasurable sensation of fright
    frisson; quiver; thrill; shudder; tingle; chill.
    • a frisson of surprise shot through him
  3. verb tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement
    shudder; throb; thrill.
  4. verb shake, as from cold
    shudder.
    • The children are shivering--turn on the heat!

WordNet


Shiv"er noun
Etymology
OE. schivere, fr. shive; cf. G. schifer a splinter, slate, OHG. scivere a splinter, Dan. & Sw. skifer a slate. See Shive, and cf. Skever.
Definitions
  1. One of the small pieces, or splinters, into which a brittle thing is broken by sudden violence; -- generally used in the plural. "All to shivers dashed." Milton.
  2. A thin slice; a shive. Obs. or Prov. Eng. "A shiver of their own loaf." Fuller.
    Of your soft bread, not but a shiver. Chaucer.
  3. (Geol.) A variety of blue slate.
  4. (Naut.) A sheave or small wheel in a pulley.
  5. A small wedge, as for fastening the bolt of a window shutter.
  6. A spindle. Obs. or Prov. Eng.
Shiv"er transitive verb
Etymology
OE. schiveren, scheveren; cf. OD. scheveren. See Shiver a fragment.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Shivered ; present participle & verbal noun Shivering
Definitions
  1. To break into many small pieces, or splinters; to shatter; to dash to pieces by a blow; as, to shiver a glass goblet.
    All the ground With shivered armor strown. Milton.
Shiv"er intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To separate suddenly into many small pieces or parts; to be shattered.
    There shiver shafts upon shields thick. Chaucer
    The natural world, should gravity once cease, . . . would instantly shiver into millions of atoms. Woodward.
Shiv"er intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. chiveren, cheveren; of uncertain origin. This word seems to have been confused with shiver to shatter.
Definitions
  1. To tremble; to vibrate; to quiver; to shake, as from cold or fear.
    Prometheus is laid On icy Caucasus to shiver. Swift.
    The man that shivered on the brink of sin, Thus steeled and hardened, ventures boldly in. Creech.
Shiv"er transitive verb
Definitions
  1. (Naut.) To cause to shake or tremble, as a sail, by steering close to the wind.
Shiv"er noun
Definitions
  1. The act of shivering or trembling.

Webster 1913