shudder
/ˈʃʌdə
/verb [no object]
1(Of a person) tremble convulsively, typically as a result of fear or revulsion: she still shuddered at the thought of him I shuddered with horror...
- I've made some mistake that I still shudder to think about.
- I do shudder to think of how the teams such as the one described in this article would have reacted to such pressure.
- In terms of our community and what we do and what it takes to get people in and off property, and I would shudder to think what it would take to do that in the middle of the night.
Synonyms
shake, shiver, tremble, quiver, quaver, vibrate, palpitate, flutter, quake, heave, convulse
1.1(Especially of a vehicle, machine, or building) shake or vibrate deeply: the train shuddered and edged forward...
- Trinity's office tower shuddered and dust began to penetrate the building down elevator shafts from the top.
- A cannon ball struck the wall of the fortress and the building shuddered underneath us.
- The engine kicked over and the van shuddered as it pulled forward and out to the street.
1.2 (usually as adjective shuddering) (Of a person’s breathing) be unsteady, especially as a result of emotional disturbance: he drew a deep, shuddering breath...
- Milo's coughing fit passed, and he lay back down on the bed, breathing deep, shuddering breaths.
- She snapped, taking a deep, shuddering breath.
- He drew a deep shuddering breath, cursing with every ounce of his soul the hallmark of the Elven race that gave him the memories of his parents' lives as they themselves had lived them.
noun
An act of shuddering: the elevator rose with a shudder figurative the pound’s devaluation sent shudders through the market...
- At one point, a technician lifted his wounded leg to clean it, and the weakened tibia fractured with a sharp crack that sent shudders through the surgical staff.
- She hurriedly climbed out, her body racked with shudders.
- But I think that first-degree murder verdict should send a shudder through the defendant.
Synonyms
shake, shiver, tremor, tremble, trembling, quiver, quivering, quaver, start, vibration, palpitation, flutter, convulsion, spasm, twitch, jerk
Phrases
give someone the shudders
I shudder to think
Derivatives
shudderingly
- Zack thought about for a moment and then when I turned again to go, he said shudderingly, in a very little voice ‘Okay.’
- We older people lived through that shudderingly in the World War.
- They need the thrill of terror to make them shudderingly submissive.
shuddery
- His wild black hair was plastered to his forehead, his shoulders shaking with each shuddery breath he drew in.
- Where I used to feel a shuddery excitement at the onset of another year, now I feel like time is slipping past me instead of moving me forward.
- She becomes a devotee of death, addicted to the most shuddery of Grimms' fairy tales and a book for the terminally ill called A Hundred Ways to Die.
Origin
Middle English (as a verb): from Middle Dutch schūderen, from a Germanic base meaning 'shake'.