quaken.
/kweɪk/, U.S. /kweɪk/ 1. The action of quaking; an instance of this. In later use: spec. an earthquake. Also as the second element in compounds, as church-quake, ice-quake, kingdom-quake, state-quake: see the first element. Also attributive.Recorded earliest in earthquake n.; in later use frequently understood as an abbreviation of this word and sometimes written in form 'quake.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > physical symptoms of fear > [noun] > shudder or shuddering
trembling1303
quakea1350
horror1382
grilling1398
shudderingc1440
grueing1489
shuddera1616
horridity1623
flesh-quake1631
quiver1786
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > [noun] > shaking
quakingeOE
quakea1350
shakingc1380
rogging1440
shaggingc1440
brangling1584
quagswagging1653
shake1665
quivering1801
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun] > quaking-grass
Quakers1597
quaking grass1597
shakers1597
dodder-grass1617
brant-barley1633
cow-quakes1633
pearl grass1633
maidenhair grass1640
amourette1702
Lady's hair1732
quiver grass1759
quake1812
rattlesnake grass1814
totter-grass1821
silver shacklea1824
lady's tresses1842
fairy grass1846
earthquakes1851
trembling-grass1853
dadder grass1859
dithering-grass1878
totty-grass1901
shivery grass1926
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > convulsion > [noun] > earthquake
earthdinOE
earthquakinga1325
earthgrinec1325
earthquakea1350
earthquavea1382
earth movingc1384
earth shakinga1387
terremote1390
tremor1635
airquake1746
earth shock1816
temblor1876
quake1881
seism1883
macroseism1903
tremblor1913
a1350 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1911) 127 45 (MED) Þe erþe quaque.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 27362 Þe dai o wreth, o quak, and soru.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 927 Til þou turne aȝeyn in quake To þat erþe þou were of take.
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. ii. 4 The quakes and shakes of Fortune.
a1642 J. Suckling Poems 11 in Fragmenta Aurea (1646) As the Earth may sometime shake (For winds shut up will cause a quake).
1756 T. Amory Life John Buncle I. 179 The vibrations of the earth, in a quake, are often 3 and 4 minutes.
1812 Countess Granville Lett. (1894) I. 35 I have some quakes for the poor country.
1874 B. P. Shillaber Lines in Pleasant Places 292 The quakes sternutatory, Threatening, strive to shake one's head off!
1881 Nature 18 Aug. 363/1 The great shock consisted of two quakes and several smaller, but distinct, vibrations.
1905 Westm. Gaz. 14 Nov. 2/1 Even the most violent quakes in the vicinity of Mount Etna are rarely felt with any force across the straits.
1977 Time 3 Jan. 27 (caption) In May, a quake centered in the Northeastern Italian region of Friuli killed nearly 1,000.
2003 Pop. Sci. Apr. 39/1 The UCSD table will be powerful enough to simulate shock waves up to 6 feet per second, rivaling Chile's world-record magnitude 9.5 quake in 1960.
2. Chiefly British regional. A mudflat; a quagmire. Sc. National Dict. (1968) at Quak records this sense as still in use in Orkney in 1967.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > marsh, bog, or swamp > [noun] > quaking bog
mizzyc1400
quawa1500
quick-mire1509
quavemire1530
quallmire1553
quamire1555
quagmire1566
quakemire1577
gog-mire1583
quag1589
quabmire1597
quadmire1610
bog-mire1624
bumby1632
quick1648
trembling bog1697
shake-bog1815
quake1896
1896 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. May 770 They rose in a body and made for the quakes.
1929 H. Marwick Orkney Norn 100/2 Kwack, a quagmire, = Scots and Eng. dial. quag.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, as quake-shock, quake-wave, etc.
ΚΠ
1931 Daily Express 21 Sept. 2/4 (heading) More 'quake shocks in Baluchistan.
1960 Daily Tel. 27 May 14 Apparently the depth of the Pacific Ocean makes it specially liable to serve as a vehicle for these ‘quake waves’.
1989 Boston Globe (Nexis) 18 Oct. 1 In the eastern United States, the more rigid state of the earth's crust causes quake shocks to travel further.
2006 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 27 May b1 Researchers..hope to duplicate the research on hundreds of faults around the region, producing maps that show specific areas that face the greatest danger from the quake waves.
C2. With adjectives and past participles, as quake-damaged, quake-hit, quake-proof, quake-prone, adjs.
ΚΠ
1924 Lincoln (Nebraska) State-Jrnl. 25 Oct. (headline) 7/3 A quake-proof building.
1935 Helena (Montana) Independent 30 Oct. (advt.) 5/4 We repair quake-damaged homes and buildings.
1973 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 21 Oct. 5/5 A 36-year-old business executive built a concrete quake-proof shelter in his yard.
1990 Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois) 30 Nov. i. 8/1 Those living in quake-prone regions say it's too late to undo the hysteria the original prediction generated.
2000 Canberra Sunday Times 11 June 14/3 More aftershocks rocked the quake-hit Indonesian province of Bengkulu.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
quakev.1
/kweɪk/, U.S. /kweɪk/α. Old English cwęcede (Mercian), Middle English quaqued, Middle English quaquide, Middle English qwaquyt.
β. early Middle English quok, Middle English koke, Middle English quoc, Middle English quock, Middle English quocke, Middle English quoke, Middle English qvoke, Middle English qwhoke, Middle English qwok, Middle English qwoke, Middle English qwook, Middle English qwoqe, Middle English whoke, Middle English–1500s quook, Middle English–1500s qwooke, 1500s quooke; Scottish pre-1700 queke, pre-1700 quhoik, pre-1700 quke, pre-1700 quoik, pre-1700 quok, pre-1700 quoke, pre-1700 quouk, pre-1700 quouke, pre-1700 quowke, pre-1700 quuik, pre-1700 qwoyk, pre-1700 1800s quuke.
γ. late Middle English quoked (north-west midlands), 1600s whook't (English regional (north-west midlands)); Scottish pre-1700 quokit.
1. intransitive. Of a thing, esp. the earth: to shake or tremble as a result of an external or internal impulse, natural instability, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > vibrate [verb (intransitive)] > shake
quakeeOE
bivec888
shakec950
reseOE
aquetcha1000
divera1225
quavec1225
quetchc1275
squetchc1330
tremblec1374
waga1398
roga1400
shaga1400
quashc1400
shatter1533
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) ciii. 30 (32) Dominus..qui respicit in terram et facit eam tremere : dryhten..se gelocað in eorðan & doeð hie cwaecian.
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) ii. vi. 50 Ofer eall Romana rice seo eorþe wæs cwaciende & berstende.
OE tr. Chrodegang of Metz Regula Canonicorum (Corpus Cambr. 191) xiv. 203 Sona wearð micel eorðbyfung, and cwacedon þa grundweallas.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 143 Eorþe scal hwakien on his ecsene.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 13532 Þa wæs mid soðe ifunde þat Mærlin sæide whilen, þat sculden for Ardure..þa wal of stanen quakien and fallen.
c1300 St. Brendan (Harl.) 163 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 224 (MED) Þe yle quakede anon..hi bihulde hou þe yle in þe see wende faste, & as a quic þing hupte vp and doun.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 249v Þis tree..haþ light leues, as þe aspe, for þe leues þer of..meueþ and quakeþ with a wel softe blast of wynde.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 7260 He it scok Sua fast þat al þe hus quok [a1400 Gött. quock].
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 280 Than hit fared undir hym as the grounde had quaked a lytyll.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iii. x. 34 The land all haill of Itaile trumbillit and quhoik.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 129 Erdquakes..war hard, kirkes quaket and trimblet vehementlie.
1658 J. Jones tr. Ovid Invective against Ibis 45 Thus the sensitive tree if ye touch one leaf the whole tree will quake.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 597 The beamy Weapon quakes.
1734 J. Chapman Phlegon Examined v. 47 The Earth quaked, the Rocks were rent, the Monuments were opened.
1795 tr. ‘V. Weber’ Sorcerer 112 When he stopt, the ground quaked under his feet, and the forest groaned around him.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake i. 16 With boughs that quaked at every breath, Grey birch and aspen wept beneath.
1871 D. G. Rossetti Love's Nocturn vii Quakes the pall, And the funeral goes by.
1932 Jrnl. Biblical Lit. 51 333 Matthew adds that the earth quakes, the rocks were rent, the tombs were opened and many of the saints arose.
1968 E. Bowen Eva Trout I. xii. 143 She reached across for the menu with an unexpected vigour which made her chair quake.
2005 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 13 June a1 A man who said he had been at a phone booth nearby said he heard an unbearably loud noise and felt the ground quake.
2. Of a person, animal, limb, etc.: to shake involuntarily; to tremble, shiver, shudder.
a. intransitive. As a result of cold, illness, or some other physical cause.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > vibrate [verb (intransitive)] > tremble or quiver > with cold, infirmity, or emotion
quakeOE
shiverc1250
shakea1398
totterc1400
cowther1599
earn1611
frill1671
to shake out1843
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > be cold [verb (intransitive)] > be cold or have sensation of cold > shiver with cold
shiverc1250
quakec1300
chillc1440
chymerc1440
hugge1483
chittera1529
shrug1549
reesle1882
nither1890
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) viii. 248 Þa teð cwaciað..on swiþlicum cyle.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xviii. 178 Ic..cwacode eal on fefore.
c1300 St. Patrick's Purgatory (Laud) 335 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 210 (MED) A norþerne wind faste blevȝ..Euere þare seten gostes, and a-ȝein þe winde heom wende, heo quakeden [Julius quakeþe] and chyuereden faste.
1372 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 91 (MED) On al my limes þu mith i-se Hou sore þei quaken for colde.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 5196 Israel wit þis vplepp..þat quak wit ilk lim [a1400 Fairf. quake ilka lime] was won.
?a1450 tr. Macer Herbal (Stockh.) (1949) 166 (MED) Hit confermyth and stablyssheþ hem þat quaken [v.r. whaken] for þe palesye or paralysye.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 339 When I for care and cold qwoke by a fyre burnyng full bright.
1501 G. Douglas Palace of Honour i. lviii Skrymmorie fery gaue me mony a clowre For Chyppynutie ful oft my chaftis quuik.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. iii. f. 12v Suche as inhabyte the mountaynes, syt quakynge for coulde in the wynter season.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) ii. iv. 5 [I] quake in the present winters state, and wish That warmer dayes would come. View more context for this quotation
1629 G. Chapman tr. Juvenal Fifth Satyre in Iustification Nero 12 To quake for cold, and gnaw the mustiest grounds.
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 385 [She] Retires, content to quake so they be warm'd.
1790 E. Darwin Bot. Garden (ed. 2) II. 120 Alas! we both with cold and hunger quake.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. (1856) xxxvii. 338 Came back again, dinnerless, with legs quaking.
1895 Times 9 Feb. 10/4 He went to see the deceased and found him quaking with cold.
1946 Science 27 Sept. 302/2 Men with 101° fever were sent out to backbreaking labor, as were those unfortunates quaking with malarial chill.
1997 D. M. E. Roskies tr. A. A. Navis in D. M. E. Roskies Black Clouds over Isle Gods 41 Blanched and quaking with cold, Pak Kari cringed at the news that he was going to be sacked.
b. intransitive. Through fear, anger, or some other strong emotion. Also figurative.to quake at (also †for) (a reason; the cause of an emotion); to quake for (a thing or person in danger).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > physical symptoms of fear > exhibit physical symptoms [verb (intransitive)] > shudder with fear
quakeOE
agriseOE
quavec1225
grisea1250
shiverc1250
aquake1303
tremble1303
gruec1330
shuddera1350
darea1400
gryec1400
grillc1420
fremishc1425
shrugc1440
oggle?a1475
hugge1483
starkle?1544
trepidate1623
quiver1670
the mind > emotion > anger > manifestation of anger > show anger [verb (intransitive)] > shake with anger
quakec1395
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke viii. 47 Mulier..tremens uenit et procidit ante pedes illius : þæt wif..cuaccende [OE Rushw. cwacende] cuom & gefeall fore fotum ðæs uel his.
OE Cynewulf Crist II 797 Þonne ? [sc. cene] cwacað, gehyreð cyning mæðlan, rodera ryhtend, sprecan reþe word.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) 201 (MED) Þe rawen rahten of luue þurh euch lið of his limes & inwið bearnde of brune swa & cwakede, as of calde.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (1973) 1533 Þe king..bigon to cwakien ant nuste hwet seggen.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 575 (MED) His ax, þo he to him com, so grisliche he ssoc & vaste, Þat þe king kwakede & is men, so sore hii were agaste.
c1395 G. Chaucer Franklin's Tale 860 For verray fere so wolde hir herte quake, That on hir feet she myghte hir noght sustene.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 19633 Saul him quok [Coll. Phys. quoke] sua was he rad.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 10529 Flandres he wan, Bolayn he toke, tounes, kastels, for him quoke.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 292 Þe kyng his wordes toke wraþefully tille herte, For ire nere he quoke.
?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iv. pr. iii. 125 Yif he be distempre and quakith for ire, men schal wene that he bereth the corage of a lyoun.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 62 (MED) Euery man shall whake and gryse Agans that ilk dome.
1558 J. Knox First Blast against Monstruous Regiment Women f. 33 They reuerence them, and qwake at their presence.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 43 Yoong children..With cold hert moothers, for Greekish victorye quaking.
1615 A. Stafford Heavenly Dogge 59 To behold an austere..Philosopher..quake at the name of death, even as a treuant boy does at the name of his Tutor.
a1629 W. Hinde Faithfull Remonstr. (1641) xlvii. 154 At which time..the Devill will quake, yea he doth quake for feare now.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 44. ¶1 The sounding of the Clock in Venice preserv'd, makes the Hearts of the whole Audience quake.
1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. viii, in Hist. Wks. (1813) II. 52 The fellow in the study stood quaking and trembling.
1800 Duke of Wellington Let. to Lieut. Col. Close in Dispatches (1837) I. 103 I quake for the fort at Munserabad.
1842 J. Wilson Recreations Christopher North II. 297 Our heart quaked too desperately to suffer us to shriek.
1882 ‘Ouida’ In Maremma I. 18 His name was a terror that made the dead quake in their graves.
1902 W. James Varieties Relig. Experience xiv. 368 When we..quake at the thought of having a child without a bank-account..it is time for thinking men to protest against so unmanly and irreligious a state of opinion.
1961 A. Miller Misfits ii. 19 Inwardly quaking with sobs, but she will not cry.
2002 Peterborough (Ont.) Examiner (Nexis) 14 Jan. b1 Two men leave the kitchen and soon one comes back, quaking with anger.
c. intransitive. to quake in one's boots (also shoes): to be very apprehensive or afraid.
ΚΠ
1862 Ld. Clarendon Let. 25 Dec. in A. L. Kennedy Dear Duchess (1956) 208 The Jews all the while quaking in their shoes for fear he shd: be murdered in going or coming.
1884 N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 115 It is not unlikely at all that a good many other employers, instead of quaking in their boots, would be found inclined to apply the same plan to their own concerns.
1958 Sunday Gaz.-Mail (Charleston, W. Va.) 6 Apr. Film moguls quake in their boots every time they release a movie.
1988 G. Patterson Burning your Own iii. 30 Quaking in his boots, Sammy put his ear to where he thought its heart ought to be: not a dickybird.
2006 Independent (Nexis) 14 Apr. 6 They were quaking in their shoes in Downing Street last week over this investigation.
3. transitive. To cause to quake. Now rare.In quot. a1398 probably a transmission error for quykeþ: see quick v.1 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > causing physical symptoms > cause physical symptoms [verb (transitive)] > cause to shudder
agruea1250
quakea1616
ague1636
shudder1639
ague-shake1653
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > vibrate [verb (transitive)] > shake
reseeOE
swengea1000
shakeOE
stira1023
rogglea1398
bitaltc1400
rogc1400
shigc1440
warble1510
brangle1513
shatter1533
wap1570
goggle1576
esbrandill1588
concute1599
quakea1616
beshake1664
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 132 A lytil puffynge of wynd quakeþ [a1425 Morgan quykeþ; L. excitat] and tendiþ leye.]
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) i. x. 6 Where Ladies shall be frighted, And gladly quak'd, heare more. View more context for this quotation
1620 H. Greenwood Jaylers Jayl-deliv. 6 The property of the Law is to humble and quake vs for our sinnes.
1639 T. Heywood Londini Status Pacatus sig. C3 Cannon..Quaking the bellowing Ayre.
1826 J. F. Cooper Last of Mohicans I. vi. 74 Hereabouts, it [sc. water] pitches into deep hollows, that rumble and quake the 'arth.
1884 Lays & Leg. 10 They heard a squeal That quaked their hearts av granite.
1907 P. MacKaye Sappho & Phaon i. 66 Let not this trembling quake the promontory And topple temple and all into the waves.
1995 B. Okri Astonishing the Gods v. iii. 128 The voice thundered again, quaking the place and its deep foundations.
Compounds
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > belly or abdomen > [noun] > types of > person having
gorrel1398
dregbaly1483
gorbelly1530
swag belly1611
quake-belly1622
pot-gut1725
pot belly1847
pus-gut1935
beer belly1942
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue 223 They will all forsooth be alike, the tall man as the short, the Quack-belly as the Scranio.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > cowardice or pusillanimity > [noun] > coward(s)
coward?a1289
hen-hearta1450
staniel?a1500
pigeon?1571
cow1581
quake-breech1584
cow-baby1594
custard1598
chicken heart1602
nidget1605
hen?1613
faintling1614
white-liver1614
chickena1616
quake-buttocka1627
skitterbrooka1652
dunghill1761
cow-heart1768
shy-cock1768
fugie1777
slag1788
man of chaff1799
fainter1826
possum1833
cowardy, cowardy, custard1836
sheep1840
white feather1857
funk1859
funkstick1860
lily-liver1860
faint-heart1870
willy boy1895
blert1905
squib1908
fraid cat (also fraidy cat)c1910–23
manso1912
feartie1923
yellowbelly1927
chicken liver1930
boneless wonder1931
scaredy-cat1933
sook1933
pantywaist1935
punk1939
ringtail1941
chickenshit1945
candy-ass1953
pansy-ass1963
unbrave1981
bottler1994
1584 Leter Concerning Erle Leycester 198 I shal surelie be quake-britch, and think euerie bushe a thyefe.
1616 W. Clerk Withals's Dict. Eng. & Lat. 400 Excors,..a faint hearted fellow, a quake-breech.
1705 J. Stevens tr. ‘A. Fernández de Avellaneda’ Contin. Don Quixote x. 59 Faith and Troth, I found that Bout that my Mothers Son was in, Quake-breech fear.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > cowardice or pusillanimity > [noun] > coward(s)
coward?a1289
hen-hearta1450
staniel?a1500
pigeon?1571
cow1581
quake-breech1584
cow-baby1594
custard1598
chicken heart1602
nidget1605
hen?1613
faintling1614
white-liver1614
chickena1616
quake-buttocka1627
skitterbrooka1652
dunghill1761
cow-heart1768
shy-cock1768
fugie1777
slag1788
man of chaff1799
fainter1826
possum1833
cowardy, cowardy, custard1836
sheep1840
white feather1857
funk1859
funkstick1860
lily-liver1860
faint-heart1870
willy boy1895
blert1905
squib1908
fraid cat (also fraidy cat)c1910–23
manso1912
feartie1923
yellowbelly1927
chicken liver1930
boneless wonder1931
scaredy-cat1933
sook1933
pantywaist1935
punk1939
ringtail1941
chickenshit1945
candy-ass1953
pansy-ass1963
unbrave1981
bottler1994
a1627 W. Rowley & T. Middleton Wit at Severall Weapons i. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Iiiiii3/1 Stand putting in one foot and shiver,..like a quake-buttock.
quake grass n. quaking grass (genus Briza).
ΚΠ
1787 R. W. Darwin Principia Botanica 260 Quake grass; or Cow quakes Briza.
1814 O. O. Rich Synopsis Genera N. Amer. Plants 10 Briza..Quake Grass.
1974 ‘H. MacDiarmid’ Direadh in Compl. Poems II. (1994) 1192 Quake grass, the ‘silver shakers,’ with their glumes shaped and corded Like miniature cowrie shells, and wrapped In bands of soft green and purple.
quake-ooze n. soft and shifting mud or marshland.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > mud > [noun] > quaking
quake-ooze1898
1898 Daily News 23 Nov. 6/2 Over a lot of quake-ooze flats, where a boat could not get.
1934 Modesto (Calif.) Bee 19 Apr. (caption) Help! I'm stuck in the quake ooze!
2005 Toronto Star (Nexis) 15 Sept. p11 On the way there, they encountered many creatures of the Marsh; some good, like the Bogart and some bad, like the Quake Ooze Brownies.
ΚΠ
1855 J. Ogilvie Suppl. Imperial Dict. Quake-tail, the yellow wagtails are so called from their habit of constantly moving their tails.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 43 Pied wagtail (Motacilla lugubris). 1. From the habit of jerking their tails while running, and also when alighting after a short flight, this family of birds derive their names of Wagtail... Quaketail. [etc.]
1894 A. Newton et al. Dict. Birds: Pt. III 758 Quaketail, a book-name invented for the Yellow Wagtail and its allies, after they had been generically separated from Motacilla as Budytes.
Derivatives
ˈquakeful adj. rare that quakes; quaking; (also) that causes fear or quaking.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > causing physical symptoms > [adjective] > causing quaking
quakeful1609
shuddering1848
shuddery1863
shuddersome1893
shudderful1901
shiversome1930
1609 T. Heywood Troia Britanica xiii. xxxii All imbrude in fight, His Quakefull hand and sword so often rearing.
1877 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 10) vi. 88 Come, what's faith? Let us make believe like children; faith? A tower Reared of round boulders on fear's quakeful bog.
1941 I. S. Cobb Exit Laughing xxxi. 386 Quakeful with forebodings, I followed him out upon a platform to face an overflow audience of three thousand.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
quakev.2
/kweɪk/, U.S. /kweɪk/, Scottish English /kwek/ Scottish.
intransitive. = quack v.1 Sc. National Dict. (1968) at Quaick records this word as still in use in Aberdeenshire and Banffshire in 1967.
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the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [verb (intransitive)] > quack
quecka1325
quack1570
quackle1622
quake1829
quank1845
1829 J. Dunbar Poems 73 Here quakes the wild-duck fluttering on the pool.
a1851 A. Aitken Poems (1873) 18 The hens will be craikin', the ducks will be quakin'.
1872 W. Philip It'll a' come Richt vi Garin' the hens rin and the deuks quaik like wud.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† quakeint.
Obsolete.
= quack int.
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the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [interjection] > quack
quakea1529
quack1577
quack quack1698
quawk1863
a1529 J. Skelton Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng in Certayne Bks. (?1545) 506 Quake, quake, sayd the duck.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 31 The dukis cryit quaik.
1633 C. Farewell East-India Colation 21 At the sodaine out-cry of a fewe Duckes, quake, quake, being at his wits end, disclaimed all his former behauiour.
1786 R. Burns Poems 57 An eldritch, stoor quaick, quaick.
1786 H. Cowley School for Greybeards v. 68 I fear all you married rogues are so many decoy ducks; you look up with envy, and cry quake, quake, to your fellows at large.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.a1350v.1eOE
v.21829
int.a1529