quiver 1 of 5

Definition of quivernext
as in shiver
an instance of shaking involuntarily with fear or cold a quiver ran through the audience when the monster cornered the movie's hero

Synonyms & Similar Words

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quiver

2 of 5

verb (1)

quivering

3 of 5

adjective

quivering

4 of 5

noun (2)

as in twitching
a series of slight movements by a body back and forth or from side to side the kids were fascinated by the quivering of the jellyfish and kept poking it to see it wiggle

Synonyms & Similar Words

quivering

5 of 5

verb (2)

present participle of quiver

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of quiver
Noun
As holiday feasts approach, fatten up your outdoor gear quiver with these favorites curated from Backcountry’s seasonal gift guides. Outside, 17 Nov. 2025 Fast-forward a decade or more, and the brand is back in my quiver of reusable water bottles with its stainless steel style. Clay Abney, Travel + Leisure, 20 Oct. 2025
Verb
Few things shake the confidence of a person like crawling to the top bunk of a quivering bed frame, your feet wrapping uncomfortably along the frail metal rungs of the ladder. Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 27 Jan. 2026 Danes is a four-time Golden Globe winner who brought her quivering lower lip to bear on the role of an author who thinks her next-door neighbor killed his wife. Nate Jones, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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. Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026 The old dog slowed to a stop, nose full of bird stink, feathery tail quivering. Joel M. Vance, Outdoor Life, 29 Oct. 2025
Verb
Few things shake the confidence of a person like crawling to the top bunk of a quivering bed frame, your feet wrapping uncomfortably along the frail metal rungs of the ladder. Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 27 Jan. 2026 Danes is a four-time Golden Globe winner who brought her quivering lower lip to bear on the role of an author who thinks her next-door neighbor killed his wife. Nate Jones, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for quiver
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quiver
Adjective
  • That week’s host, Emily Blunt, did the trembly voice-over.
    Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2020
Adjective
  • Standing 10 yards in front of us on a corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue was a shivering elderly woman who looked lost.
    Richard Greenberg, Los Angeles Times, 6 Feb. 2026
  • What she’s produced is a searching, pointedly disorienting text, studded with passages of extreme beauty and generous humor, that wears whimsy like a shivering veil over consuming discomfort, even terror.
    Paul McAdory, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Catcher Agustin Ramirez, who is working to improve defensively after a shaky rookie season, threw out one of two runners attempting to steal a base and went 2 for 3 challenging pitches behind the plate.
    Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 28 Mar. 2026
  • This was the foundation on which my shaky sense of security was built—that my birth had changed everything.
    Zayd Ayers Dohrn, New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Quiver.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quiver. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.

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