shivern.1
/ˈʃɪvə/, U.S. /ˈʃɪvər/ 1. figurative.1649 Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar iii. 16. 180 The Church gathering up..the shivers of the broken heart may reunite them.figurative.1658 J. Cleveland Rustick Rampant 2 And had not Providence held back the hand, the blow had faln, the Government had broke into shivers then.1852 H. Rogers Eclipse of Faith 135 Yet this glorious faculty uniformly yields,—goes into shivers in the encounter!
a. A fragment, chip, splinter. Now rare except in phrases: see 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part > a fragment > splinter
shiverc1275
spillc1300
spelda1375
splint1398
splinter1398
slicea1400
splinderc1440
spilderc1475
spelder1530
spell1545
splitter1546
spleter1548
spilt1577
shivering1589
skilfer1598
spelcha1605
slifter1606
spilter?1646
slappet1768
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13868 Sceld aȝein scelden sciuren þer wunden.
c1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 3234 It was na wapen that man might welde Might get a shever out of thair shelde.
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. lxxviii. 234 Syr Raynolde du Roy brake his spere in iiii. peces, and ye sheuers flewe a grete hyght into ye ayre.
1576 T. Newton tr. L. Lemnie Touchstone of Complexions i. vii. 53 A splint or shyuer of a broken speare.
1723 Present St. Russia i. 119 They use no Candles, but long Shivers of Wood.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake iii. 101 A heap of withered boughs was piled, Of juniper and rowan wild, Mingled with shivers from the oak.
1885 Ld. Tennyson Balin & Balan 108 Thorns of the crown and shivers of the cross.
b. Phrases. in shivers, broken, in small fragments (so to break, burst, etc. in or into shivers); (all) to shivers, into small fragments; †to go shivers, to be shattered to pieces.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (intransitive)] > shatter or break to pieces or burst
to-burstc893
forbursta1000
springOE
to-flyc1000
to-shootc1000
to-springc1000
to-drevea1225
to-resea1225
to-breakc1230
to go shiversc1275
to-drivec1275
to-rivec1275
to-shenec1275
to-wendc1275
debruise1297
lash13..
to-dashc1300
to-scatter13..
to-shiver13..
shiverc1330
bequash1377
shinderc1390
brasta1400
bursta1400
to-shiderc1450
to fly in pieces1488
sprent1488
splindera1500
reavec1560
dishiver1562
shatter1567
disshiver1586
split1590
slent1608
besplit1638
disrupt1657
splintera1661
rupture1734
explode1784
to ding in staves1786
to break, knock etc., or go, to smash1798
spell1811
to go (also run) smash1818
to play smash1841
bust1844
splitter1860
disrump1886
to fall into staves1895
smash1904
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > into (small) pieces [phrase]
in (also into, on, a) piecesa1275
(all) to shiversc1275
to piecesc1300
asundera1325
to set in sunderc1325
in sunderc1390
in, into shredsc1400
in small1419
in piecemeal?a1425
in piecemealsa1470
by piecemeals1576
in shivers1589
in or into splinters1612
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2264 Scip ærne to-ȝen scip þa hit al towonde to scifren.
a1400 Guy Warw. 7213 Wiþ þe spere he him smot smertliche..Þat alto schiueres it to-fleye.
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur ii. v. 82 The Irysshe knyght smote Balyn on the sheld that alle wente sheuers of his spere.
1589 R. Greene Ciceronis Amor 4 The boult rebounded and brake into a thousand shiuers.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §10 If you strike or pierce a Solid Body, that is brittle,..it breaketh not onely, wher the immediate force is; but breaketh all about into shiuers.
1769 T. Gray Jrnl. 3 Oct. in Corr. (1971) III. 1080 The rocks atop, deep-cloven perpendicularly by the rains, hanging loose & nodding forwards, seem just starting from their base in shivers.
1823 W. Scoresby Jrnl. Voy. Northern Whale-fishery 443 The other ship..endeavouring to set his main-top-sail, it blew to shivers.
1883 R. Gower My Reminisc. II. xxix. 303 The thunder crashed and tore itself into shivers overhead.
c. spec. A flake or splinter of stone (e.g. one knocked off in stone-dressing). Now Scottish and dialect.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > piece of stone > splinter of stone
schulderec1440
spallc1440
shalder1577
shiver1600
scabbling1790
knockings1875
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xlvi. 517 Put in the clefts some shiuers of hard stone.
1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 7 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) The Shivers or Splints of the Whin or hard Stone.
1861 H. Stephens & R. S. Burn Bk. Farm-buildings 243 A ditcher's shovel is also useful to him in putting the shivers of the stones together into heaps.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > flax, hemp, or jute > [noun] > filament or fibre of
shiver1440
harl1652
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > vegetable fibre > hemp > fibre of
shiver1440
splinter1673
1440 Wyclif's Bible, Josh. ii. 6 [Forsothe sche made the men to stie in to the soler of hir hows, and hilide hem with stobil] or schyueres [of flex, that was there].
1615 G. Markham Eng. Hus-wife in Countrey Contentments iii. 97 You shall beate out all the loose buns and shiuers that hang in the Hempe or Flaxe.
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 56 Shivers, the foul particles taken from the hemp when hatchelling.
3. Any kind of stone of a slaty or schistous character. [Perhaps < German schiefer; compare shiffer n.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > [noun] > laminated stone
slat-stone1391
slate-stonec1450
slate1455
slate1653
tilestone1668
shivera1728
a1728 J. Woodward Attempt Nat. Hist. Fossils Eng. (1729) i. 18 Shiver, of a dark Ash-Colour, near Black.
1789 J. Williams Nat. Hist. Mineral Kingdom II. 10 Some varieties of the schists or shivers are of the same colour and quality as the slates.
1829 S. Glover Hist. County of Derby I. 46 Shale or shiver..A black laminated clay, much indurated.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 174 Shiver. 1. Shale; a hard argillaceous bed. 2. See Sheave.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
shivern.2
/ˈʃɪvə/, U.S. /ˈʃɪvər/ a. = shive n.1 1. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > piece of bread > [noun] > slice of bread
shivea1250
shiverc1386
sheavec1480
round1769
piece1787
c1386 G. Chaucer Summoner's Tale 132 ‘Now dame’ quod he,..‘Haue I nat of a capon but the lyuere And of youre softe breed nat but a shyuere’.
a1400 Sir Beues (A) 1826 Now ich wolde ȝeue hit [i.e. Arondel] kof For a schiuer of a lof!
c1430 Two Cookery-bks. 40 Whan it is cold, larde it, & schere on schevres.
1525 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1884) V. 209 An halpeny white loffe and a shiffer of chese.
1656 tr. J. A. Comenius Latinæ Linguæ Janua Reserata: Gate Lat. Tongue Unlocked lxxxix. §854 Rolls of bread taken out of the basket, or shivers cut out of the loaf.
1712 M. Prior Erle Robert's Mice 3 Therein eke may both be fed, With shiver of the Wheaten Bread.
1754 Philos. Trans. 1753 (Royal Soc.) 48 87 [It] left large spots..on that side whence the shivers were taken off.
b. figurative and in figurative context.
ΚΠ
1594 O. B. Questions Profitable Concernings 4 b The Moncks and Abbots of my knowledge, cut large shivers of the loafe for which they neuer sweate, to make themselues strong in the peoples favour and opinion.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. iii. 55 His [sc. the Pope's] intolerable extortions; which, how great soever, were but a large shiver of that loaf, which he had given into the Kings hand.
2. A pulley: = sheave n.1 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > lifting or hoisting equipment > [noun] > tackle > pulley
winchc1050
sheave1336
pulley1357
trice1357
truckle1417
shiver1485
trace-wheel1519
truckle-wheel1533
pullace1545
pullishee1635
wince1688
trispast1706
block-pulley1864
1485 in H. E. Malden Cely Papers (1900) 176 For brassyn schyver for the schype, xxiiij d.
1495 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 192 Snache poleyes with oon shever of brasse to ye same.
1514 in M. Oppenheim Hist. Admin. Royal Navy (1896) I. 373 Ramehedes with ij shevers of Brasse.
1578 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1899) IV. 52 An ironmonger of smale made wares, videlicet, of nayles, horse shues, slyppes, shyuers, spade shoes [etc.].
1615 R. Cocks Diary (1883) I. 94 To have had his advice about bras shivers.
1800 Trans. Soc. Arts 18 232 The pulleys, or shivers.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 147 Shivers to stand nearly athwartships.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > plough > mouldboard > parts of
mouldbred clout1348
mouldboard clout1394
cloutc1485
breast1652
shiver1652
wrest1652
plough breast1799
1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved xxviii. 191 [Parts of a Plough.] 1 the Share, 2 the Coulter, 3 the Shield or Breast-plate (as some call them) Shivers.
1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved xxviii. 193 A Shiver [printed Shiner] or Breast-plate.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
shivern.3
/ˈʃɪvə/, U.S. /ˈʃɪvər/ 1.
a. An act or a condition of shivering; a quivering or trembling, esp. of the body under the influence of cold, emotion, etc. Phrase, (all) in a shiver.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > [noun] > trembling or quivering > with cold, infirmity, or emotion > an act or fit of
tremor1616
shakea1625
shrug1713
shiver1727
shivering fit1816
shivering attack1899
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > manifestation of emotion > [noun] > trembling with emotion
trembling1303
thrilla1680
twittering1682
strumming1822
shiver1863
1727 P. Longueville Hermit 163 High Mountains of Ice, which echo'd with Shivers.
1835 Comic Almanack 5 When you first go to bathe, gentle Sir, in a river, If you dip in one foot, it will give you a shiver.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. viii. 110 You are cold and all in a-shiver.
1863 M. Oliphant Salem Chapel I. x. 161 Shivers of restrained emotion ran through the astonished audience.
1876 T. Hardy Hand of Ethelberta II. xliv. 206 She closed her eyes in a white shiver.
b. transferred and figurative.
ΚΠ
1860 J. L. Motley Hist. United Netherlands I. ii. 31 Germany was in a shiver at every breeze from East and West.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda II. iv. xxix. 227 With a sort of mental shiver.
2. (the) shivers: an attack of shivering; often spec. the ague.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > fever > [noun] > ague
accessc1300
aguec1325
wedenonfa'c1500
exiesa1585
fen-shake1794
trembling aixies1808
(the) shivers1861
shaking1877
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations iii, in All Year Round 8 Dec. 194/1 I'll beat the shivers so far, I'll bet you.
1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal III. ix. 186 I only know that I get the shivers every time I sit in your drawing-room.
1888 Cent. Mag. May 28/2 It gives me the cold shivers when I think what might have become of me.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 658 The beginning [of hydroa gestationis] is sometimes marked by shivers, illness and fever.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
shiverv.1
/ˈʃɪvə/, U.S. /ˈʃɪvər/ 1.
a. transitive. To break or split into small fragments or splinters.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (transitive)] > break to pieces, shatter, or burst
to-breakc888
briteOE
to-shenec950
abreakOE
forgnidea1000
to-brytc1000
to-burstc1000
to-driveOE
shiverc1200
to-shiverc1200
to-reavec1225
shiverc1250
debruise1297
to-crack13..
to-frushc1300
to-sliftc1315
chinec1330
littlec1350
dingc1380
bruisea1382
burst1382
rushc1390
shinderc1390
spald?a1400
brittenc1400
pashc1400
forbruise1413
to break, etc. into sherds1426
shattera1450
truncheon1477
scarboyle1502
shonk1508
to-shattera1513
rash1513
shidera1529
grind1535
infringe1543
dishiver1562
rupture1578
splinter1582
tear1582
disshiver1596
upburst1596
to burst up1601
diminish1607
confract1609
to blow (shiver, smash, tear, etc.) to or into atoms1612
dishatter1615
vanquashc1626
beshiver1647
disfrange1778
smash1778
explode1784
bust1806
spell1811
smithereen1878
shard1900
α.
β. a1400 Morte Arth. 1813 Schotte thorowe the schiltrouns, and scheverede launcez.1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. cvv The sonne of the Master gonner..fired the gonne, whiche brake & sheuered ye yron barres of the grate.1598 Mucedorus sig. A2v Ile thunder musicke shall appale the nimphes, And make them sheuer their clattering strings.1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xvii. 113/2 A Lance broken, or shavered in the middle.c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 113 Ure helende..alto shiurede þe ȝiaten and in wende.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 3411 Mani a spere spacli on peces were to-broke, & many a schene scheld scheuered al to peces.
c1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 3539 Thair sheldes war shiferd and helms rifen.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 704/1 I whyl shyver this blocke into small chyppes.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lxxvi. 5 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 101 Their bow, and shaft, and shield, and sword he shiuered.
1621 G. Sandys tr. Ovid First Five Bks. Metamorphosis iii. 62 What would haue..shiuered towres, doth giue no wound at all.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 32. ⁋2 How many impartial Looking-Glasses had been censured and calumniated, nay, and sometimes shivered into ten thousand Splinters.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 227 The glass, under this management, is generally shivered into small pieces.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. vii. vii. 373 Or rusty firelocks belch after him, shivering asunder his—hat.
1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present iv. iv. 369 Ye have shivered mountains asunder.
1876 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. Jan. 30 The mail cars were completely crushed and shivered.
b. figurative and in figurative context. Also with out.
ΚΠ
a1593 C. Marlowe tr. Lucan First Bk. (1600) i. 85 O Roome thy selfe art cause of all these euils, Thy selfe thus shiuered out to three mens shares.
1631 F. Lenton Characterismi sig. C4v Diseases at last dry vp her marrow, and rottennesse so shiuers her, that shee drops asunder on a sudden, and wretchedly dyes without pitty.
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iv. viii. 181 He found the Christians there shivered into severall factions.
1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Ess. 1st Ser. vii. 197 At last the might and the hopes of Charles were shivered beneath the halbert of the free Switzer.
c. shiver my timbers: a mock oath attributed in comic fiction to sailors.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > oaths other than religious or obscene
loOE
spi?c1225
how mischance——?c1330
with mischance!c1330
by my hoodc1374
by my sheath1532
by the mouse-foot1550
what the (also a) goodyear1570
bread and salt1575
by Jove1575
in (good) truly1576
by these hilts1598
by the Lord Harry1693
by the pody cody1693
by jingo!1694
splutter1707
by jing!1786
I snore1790
declare1811
by the hokey1825
shiver my timbers1834
by the (great) horn spoon1842
upon my Sam1879
for goodness' sake1885
yerra1892
for the love of Mike1896
by the hokey fiddle1922
knickers1971
1834 F. Marryat Jacob Faithful I. ix. 154 I won't thrash you, Tom. Shiver my timbers if I do.
2. † b. To send down (debris) by crumbling. Obsolete.
a. intransitive. To fly in pieces; to split.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (intransitive)] > shatter or break to pieces or burst
to-burstc893
forbursta1000
springOE
to-flyc1000
to-shootc1000
to-springc1000
to-drevea1225
to-resea1225
to-breakc1230
to go shiversc1275
to-drivec1275
to-rivec1275
to-shenec1275
to-wendc1275
debruise1297
lash13..
to-dashc1300
to-scatter13..
to-shiver13..
shiverc1330
bequash1377
shinderc1390
brasta1400
bursta1400
to-shiderc1450
to fly in pieces1488
sprent1488
splindera1500
reavec1560
dishiver1562
shatter1567
disshiver1586
split1590
slent1608
besplit1638
disrupt1657
splintera1661
rupture1734
explode1784
to ding in staves1786
to break, knock etc., or go, to smash1798
spell1811
to go (also run) smash1818
to play smash1841
bust1844
splitter1860
disrump1886
to fall into staves1895
smash1904
α.
β. c1402 J. Lydgate Compl. Black Knight 46 So loude songe that al the wode ronge, Lyke as hyt sholde sheuer in pesis smale.1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccxix. 282 The two knyghtes mette rudely togeyder, soo that their speares sheuered all to peaces.figurative.1645 J. Milton Colasterion 10 His eighth Argument shivers in the uttering.1663 J. Mayne tr. Lucian Part of Lucian sig. B1v Since my works are as frail, and brittle as their pots, and are ready to shiver and break upon the least dash of a stone.c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13829 Þeir schaftes schiuered, & fleye in feld.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1747 Ther shyueren shaftes vp on sheeldes thikke.
c1430 Chev. Assigne 315 Þe speres..shyuereden to peces.
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 34 b. Will at lenth bryng all his other buildyng to ruine, and cause it to shiever in peeces to the grounde.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xx. 51 Hadst thou beene ought but gosmore feathers ayre, So many fadome downe precipitating Thou hadst shiuerd like an egge.
1768 T. Gray Fatal Sisters in Poems 81 Ere the ruddy sun be set, Pikes must shiver, javelins sing.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. vii. x. 389 The panels shivering in, like potsherds.
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xxvi. 460 As he crossed the hall, his statue fell, and shivered on the stones.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > bring or send down in fragments
shiver1759
splinter1807
1759 B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. II. 235 This Hill is almost perpetually shivering down Earth and great Stones.
3. intransitive. Of stone: To split along the natural line of cleavage. [? After German schiefern.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > tectonization or diastrophism > [verb (intransitive)] > split
shiver1728
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Vein Veins, in Stones, are a Defect, proceeding usually from an Inequality in their Consistence as to hard, and soft; which makes the Stone crack, and shiver in those Parts.
1826 W. A. Miles Descr. Deverel Barrow 51 Its [i.e. Kimmeridge coal money's] great tendency to destructibility and of shivering laminally, would be a bar to its ever having been a coinage intended to pass from hand to hand.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
shiverv.2
/ˈʃɪvə/, U.S. /ˈʃɪvər/ 1.
a. intransitive. To tremble, shake, quiver; esp. to tremble with cold or fear.
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 world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (transitive)] > break to pieces, shatter, or burst
to-breakc888
briteOE
to-shenec950
abreakOE
forgnidea1000
to-brytc1000
to-burstc1000
to-driveOE
shiverc1200
to-shiverc1200
to-reavec1225
shiverc1250
debruise1297
to-crack13..
to-frushc1300
to-sliftc1315
chinec1330
littlec1350
dingc1380
bruisea1382
burst1382
rushc1390
shinderc1390
spald?a1400
brittenc1400
pashc1400
forbruise1413
to break, etc. into sherds1426
shattera1450
truncheon1477
scarboyle1502
shonk1508
to-shattera1513
rash1513
shidera1529
grind1535
infringe1543
dishiver1562
rupture1578
splinter1582
tear1582
disshiver1596
upburst1596
to burst up1601
diminish1607
confract1609
to blow (shiver, smash, tear, etc.) to or into atoms1612
dishatter1615
vanquashc1626
beshiver1647
disfrange1778
smash1778
explode1784
bust1806
spell1811
smithereen1878
shard1900
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
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > vibrate [verb (intransitive)] > tremble or quiver
shiverc1250
tremble1303
lillec1400
tryllec1400
quaver?a1439
didderc1440
dadderc1450
whitherc1450
bever1470
dindle1470
brawl1489
quiver1490
quitter1513
flichter1528
warble1549
palsy1582
quoba1586
twitter1629
dither1649
verberate1652
quibble1721
dandera1724
tremulate1749
vibrate1757
dingle1787
nidge1803
tirl1825
reel1847
shudder1849
tremor1921
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
α.
β. c1402 J. Lydgate Compl. Black Knight 230 With hote and colde my acces ys so meynt, That now I shyuer for defaute of hete.1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) x. 259 All his body shevered all sodenly for grete ioye.1562 A. Brooke tr. M. Bandello Tragicall Hist. Romeus & Iuliet f. 11 And now for feare she sheuereth, and now for loue she burnes.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 1003 Why stand we longer shivering under feares, That shew no end but Death. View more context for this quotation1749 T. Smollett tr. A. R. Le Sage Gil Blas III. vii. i. 6 He drew his long rapier, which made me shiver.1833 H. Martineau Charmed Sea i. 3 The pines are stooping and shivering on all the hills around.1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. i. 44 Under the cold weight of these thoughts Mrs Transome shivered.1878 S. Phillips On Seaboard 185 Where the sea-pinks grow, And the dry rushes shiver in the sand.c1250 Death 142 in Old Eng. Misc. 176 For ich schal bernen in fur, and chiuerin in ise.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 9 Thanne comth the blanche fievere With chele and makth me so to chievere.
a1400 Leg. Rood (1871) 144 Þe temple walles gan chiuere and schake, Veiles in þe temple a-two þei sponne.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 483/2 I chever, as one dothe that is in an axes whan the colde cometh on hym.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 96 My Gaist and I baith cheueris with the chin, So fell ane wedder feld I neuer.
b. figurative or in figurative context.
ΚΠ
1649 J. Milton Tenure of Kings 4 [They] begin to swerve and almost shiver at the majesty and grandeur of som noble deed, as if they were newly enter'd into a great sin.
1878 J. S. Campion On Frontier (ed. 2) 27 The air shivered with noise; the earth trembled under our feet.
2. transitive (causative.)† a. To give a sensation of chill to, to cause (a person or object) to shiver.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > make cold [verb (transitive)] > give sensation of cold to
shiverc1200
bleak1606
nither1813
bechill1951
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > vibrate [verb (transitive)] > make tremble > make tremble with cold, infirmity, or emotion
shakec1384
shiver1797
c1200 [implied in: Vices & Virtues 63 And ðu, earme saule, on ðe wallende brene of ðe hote fiere, and eft, embehwile, on ðe chiuerinde chele. (at shivering adj.2 1)].
1797 H. Lee Canterbury Tales I. 354 A waking dream of horrors, not unlike that which had disturbed his sleep, seemed to shiver his senses.
b. †To cause (one's jaws) to tremble (obsolete); to pour out or give forth with a trembling motion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > vibrate [verb (transitive)] > make tremble
tremble1591
quiver1599
dingle1611
shiver1693
tremulate1764
thrill1800
tremefy1832
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > let or send out [verb (transitive)] > emit > by vibration
exagitate1642
vibratea1648
shiver1821
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > vibrate [verb (transitive)] > make tremble > give forth with trembling
shiver1821
1693 T. Urquhart & P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 3rd Bk. Wks. xx. 167 Diddering and shivering his Chaps, as Apes use to do.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel II. 167 Where tiny blossoms with a purple bell Shiver their beauties to the autumn-gale.
a1861 T. Woolner Storm in My Beautiful Lady ii Quiet are the birds In ghostly trees that shiver not a sound.
c. transitive. To shake, rustle.
ΚΠ
1928 E. W. Hendy Lure of Bird Watching 49 The hen, at the conclusion of a dustbath, gave a low call, and shivered her wings.
3. Nautical.
a. intransitive. Of a sail: To flutter or shake (in the wind).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > support (an amount of) sail [verb (intransitive)] > shake or flap (of sails)
shake1769
shiver1769
flog1839
slat1840
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Tack The head-sails are immediately made to shiver in the wind.
1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers (ed. 2) 78 The sail..is shivering in the gale.
1891 H. Patterson Illustr. Naut. Dict. i. s.v. A vessel's sails are said to shiver when she is luffed so close that the wind is spilled out of them.
b. transitive. To cause (a sail) to flutter or shake in the wind, to bring a sail edge-on to the wind.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > carry specific amount of sail [verb (transitive)] > trim sails > cause to shake
shiver1769
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms Déventer les voiles, to shiver the sails, or brace them to shiver in the wind.
1875 F. G. D. Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. (ed. 2) iii. 59 Shiver the mizen topsail or brail up the spanker.
4. To quiver, to tremble with a shrinking movement.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > vibrate [verb (intransitive)] > tremble or quiver > with shrinking
shiverc1869
c1869 Ld. C. E. Paget Autobiogr. (1896) 221 The gory head of a Greek just decapitated, the trunk still shivering.
1905 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 27 May 1147 Time and again, I have seen the skin ‘shiver’ at the touch of the knife.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1c1275
n.2c1386
n.31727v.1c1200v.2c1200- commensurable in power
- commensurableness
- commensurably
- commensurate
- commensurately
- commensurateness
- commensuratenesses
- commensuration
- commensurations
- commensurative
- commensuratively
- commensurator
- commensure
- comment
- comment out
- comment-like
- commentar
- commentarial
- commentarialism
- commentariat
- commentaried
- commentaries
- commentariographer
- commentary
- commentate