as in shaking
marked by or given to small uncontrollable bodily movements
found the quaking stray dog wandering outside in the rain
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in shuddering
to make a series of small irregular or violent movements
the horror film was so scary it left us quaking with fear for hours afterwards
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of quaking
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
21 June 2026
Ephemera directs the brain to the tiniest concrete nubs of consciousness, calming the quaking mind and bringing us back to ourselves.
—
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
Alex arrives to find Lucy literally quaking in fear, especially when Stephen summons the two of them to come meet his latest prey, whose name is Tegan.
—
Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
3 Feb. 2026
For those communities quaking in terror, simply waiting three years for a new president is not sufficient.
—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
22 Jan. 2026
The jiggly, quaking contraption is eye-catching—a natural social media star.
—
Julia Sullivan,
Outside,
23 Dec. 2025
The majority of the action, however, unfolds in a claustrophobic one-shot inside a tent, with our heroes quaking at the whoops and cries surrounding them.
—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
Meanwhile, Springfield Democrats shouldn’t be quaking in their shoes at this temper tantrum from their cronies in organized labor.
—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
21 June 2026
Ephemera directs the brain to the tiniest concrete nubs of consciousness, calming the quaking mind and bringing us back to ourselves.
—
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
Alex arrives to find Lucy literally quaking in fear, especially when Stephen summons the two of them to come meet his latest prey, whose name is Tegan.
—
Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
3 Feb. 2026
For those communities quaking in terror, simply waiting three years for a new president is not sufficient.
—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
22 Jan. 2026
The jiggly, quaking contraption is eye-catching—a natural social media star.
—
Julia Sullivan,
Outside,
23 Dec. 2025
The majority of the action, however, unfolds in a claustrophobic one-shot inside a tent, with our heroes quaking at the whoops and cries surrounding them.
—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
18 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quaking
Adjective
-
That week’s host, Emily Blunt, did the trembly voice-over.
Noun
-
All the trembling, as Kimbangu touched the sick, alarmed European settlers and reassured the plantation workers who trekked to Nkamba in search of healing.
-
At first this change of scale vivifies the butterfly—its brief stillness, the angle of its wings, its trembling—while freezing everything else, including the novel’s action.
Verb
-
Right now, that faith is shaking as a wave of cruelty sweeps through our communities.
-
With more shaking or churning, these grains grow and separate from the watery, naturally low-fat buttermilk.
Noun
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The horror has come now like a storm— what if this night prefigured the night after death— what if all thereafter was an eternal quivering on the edge of an abyss, with everything base and vicious in oneself urging one forward and the baseness and viciousness of the world just ahead.
-
The old dog slowed to a stop, nose full of bird stink, feathery tail quivering.
Verb
-
A lot of people are upset by the notion of bringing cage fights to the White House, shuddering at the bad taste of it all.
-
Design practices Not knowing ahead of time what lunar explorers may face is an unsure, shuddering proposition.
Noun
-
Ditch the plastic iterations for a sculptural rattan rocking horse that doubles as nursery decor when not in use.
-
What looks like an aesthetic rocking chair is actually an anti-gravity chair, to help with spinal decompression.
Verb
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Watching their relationship devolve (never more so than when their sperm donor, a rakish, motorcycle-driving restaurant owner played by Mark Ruffalo, enters the scene) is most definitely a tear-jerking experience, as is the film’s final scene.
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Some were petty — like Reese committing a foul against Clark, then jerking her head back, impersonating Clark as a flopper.
Noun
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Unlike shivering, which produces heat through rapid muscle contractions, thermogenic leak relies on the mitochondria in muscle cells to release heat instead of producing ATP for contractions.
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Other common side effects include nausea, flushing, headache, and abdominal cramping and uncontrollable shivering.
Cite this Entry
“Quaking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quaking. Accessed 1 Jul. 2026.
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