Origin uncertain, perhaps an alteration of chavel, or a frequentive of sheaf.
Meanings
The act of shivering.
But they had already discovered that he could be bullied, and they had it their own way; and presently Selwyn lay prone upon the nursery floor, impersonating a ladrone while pleasant shivers chased themselves over Drina, whom he was stalking. 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
cmn 顫抖 /颤抖 (the act or result of shivering) · izh väry (the act or result of shivering) · es espeluzno (the act or result of shivering) · gl arrepío (the act or result of shivering) · nl rilling (the act or result of shivering) · mi hūnonoi (a bodily response to cold) · es escalofrío (a bodily response to cold) · hi ठिठुरन (the act or result of shivering) · bg тръпки (a bodily response to cold) · cs třas (the act or result of shivering) · ja 震え (the act or result of shivering) · cmn 震顫 /震颤 (the act or result of shivering) · mi kūnāwiri (a bodily response to cold) · mi harawiri (a bodily response to cold) · gl arrepío (a bodily response to cold) · hi ठिठुरन (a bodily response to cold) · gl arreguizo (a bodily response to cold) · es calofrío (the act or result of shivering) · gl calafrío (a bodily response to cold) · mi tūhauwiri (a bodily response to cold) · ca calfred (the act or result of shivering) · fa لرز (a bodily response to cold) · gl arreguizo (the act or result of shivering) · bg треперене (the act or result of shivering) · es tiritón (a bodily response to cold) · hi सिहरन (a bodily response to cold) · mi tūhauwiri (the act or result of shivering) · mi tūngāwiri (a bodily response to cold) · hi कँपकँपी (a bodily response to cold) · mi tuawiri (a bodily response to cold) · pt tremedeira (the act or result of shivering) · ru дрожа́ние (the act or result of shivering) · fa لرز (the act or result of shivering) · cmn 發抖 /发抖 (the act or result of shivering) · es escalofrío (the act or result of shivering) · gl fervón (a bodily response to cold) · es repeluzno (the act or result of shivering) · mi hāwiniwini (a bodily response to cold) · fr frisson (a bodily response to cold) · it tremore (the act or result of shivering) · fi värinä (the act or result of shivering) · hi सिहरन (the act or result of shivering) · ru дрожь (the act or result of shivering) · cmn 顫慄 /颤栗 (the act or result of shivering) · pt calafrio (the act or result of shivering) · ca calfred (a bodily response to cold) · es repelús (the act or result of shivering) · cmn 哆嗦 (the act or result of shivering) · es estremezón (the act or result of shivering) · fi väristys (the act or result of shivering) · hi कँपकँपी (the act or result of shivering) · mi harawiniwini (a bodily response to cold) · es calofrío (a bodily response to cold) · fro friçon (the act or result of shivering) · fi hytinä (the act or result of shivering) · gl fervón (the act or result of shivering) · eo tremo (the act or result of shivering) · pt tremura (the act or result of shivering) · pt calafrio (a bodily response to cold) · mi hurapa (a bodily response to cold) · kk діріл (the act or result of shivering) · es estremecimiento (the act or result of shivering) · la tremor (the act or result of shivering) · cs třesení (the act or result of shivering) · cs třes (the act or result of shivering) · mi korohāwini (a bodily response to cold) · gl calafrío (the act or result of shivering) · es tiritón (the act or result of shivering) · de Zittern (the act or result of shivering) · fr frisson (the act or result of shivering) · pl drżenie (the act or result of shivering) · izh kylmänväry (a bodily response to cold) · it brivido (the act or result of shivering)
Origin uncertain, perhaps an alteration of chavel, or a frequentive of sheaf.
Meanings
To tremble or shake, especially when cold or frightened.
The man that shivered on the brink of sin, / Thus steeled and hardened, ventures boldly in. 1693, Thomas Creech, The thirteenth Satire of Juvenal:
The cold made me shiver.
He was shivering a little, for he had always been used to sleeping in a proper bed, and by this time his coat had worn so thin and threadbare from hugging that it was no longer any protection to him. 1921 June, Margery Williams, “The Velveteen Rabbit: Or How Toys Become Real”, in Harper’s Bazar, volume LVI, number 6 (2504 overall), New York, N.Y.: International Magazine Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
They stood outside for hours, shivering in the frosty air.
Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth. 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
Mr. Mason, shivering as some one chanced to open the door, asked for more coal to be put on the fire, which had burnt out its flame, though its mass of cinder still shone hot and red. The footman who brought the coal, in going out, stopped near Mr. Eshton's chair, and said something to him in a low voice, of which I heard only the words, "old woman,"—"quite troublesome." 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “CHAPTER XVIII”, in Jane Eyre. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC:
(transitive) To cause to shake or tremble, as a sail, by steering close to the wind.
da skælve (to tremble or shake) · mi hūnonoi (to tremble or shake) · gl bracuñar (to tremble or shake) · tl nginig (to tremble or shake) · de zittern (to tremble or shake) · is skjálfa (to tremble or shake) · ceb kugkog (to tremble or shake) · gl bavuriar (to tremble or shake) · gl calicar (to tremble or shake) · mi kūnāwiri (to tremble or shake) · hu didereg (to tremble or shake) · sv darra (to tremble or shake) · fi väristä (to tremble or shake) · es temblar de frío (to tremble or shake) · eo frostotremi (to tremble or shake) · no skjelve (to tremble or shake) · cmn 發抖 /发抖 (to tremble or shake) · es rilar (to tremble or shake) · af sidder (to tremble or shake) · hi ठिठुरना (to tremble or shake) · it tremare (to tremble or shake) · cmn 顫抖 /颤抖 (to tremble or shake) · mi hāwiniwini (to tremble or shake) · mi tuawiri (to tremble or shake) · ckb لەرزین (to tremble or shake) · vi run (to tremble or shake) · nrf frémi (to tremble or shake) · sq fërgëlloj (to tremble or shake) · unm ànkahchi (to tremble or shake) · es tiritar (to tremble or shake) · cmn 震顫 /震颤 (to tremble or shake) · mi harawiniwini (to tremble or shake) · fr frissonner (to tremble or shake) · ro tremura (to tremble or shake) · yi טרייסלען (to tremble or shake) · es achucharse (to tremble or shake) · gl abubiar (to tremble or shake) · mn агзайх (to tremble or shake) · ca esgarrifança (to tremble or shake) · mi turiwātaitai (to tremble or shake) · cmn 哆嗦 (to tremble or shake) · pt tremer (to tremble or shake) · gl entanguecer (to tremble or shake) · el ριγώ (to tremble or shake) · fa لرزیدن (to tremble or shake) · mi hunōnoi (to tremble or shake) · pl drżeć (to tremble or shake) · es estremecerse (to tremble or shake) · it rabbrividire (to tremble or shake) · izh värissä (to tremble or shake) · ja 震える (to tremble or shake) · cic yollichi (to tremble or shake) · ar اِقْشَعَّرَ (to tremble or shake) · es titiritear (to tremble or shake) · mi turiwātautau (to tremble or shake) · hu reszket (to tremble or shake) · mi korohāwini (to tremble or shake) · de schauern (to tremble or shake) · gl estremecer (to tremble or shake) · ca calfred (to tremble or shake) · grc ῥιγόω (to tremble or shake) · gl obrexar (to tremble or shake) · uk тремтіти (to tremble or shake) · mi tūhauwiri (to tremble or shake) · mi hurapa (to tremble or shake) · gl arresir (to tremble or shake) · bg треперя (to tremble or shake) · la tremo (to tremble or shake) · oc estrementir (to tremble or shake) · nl bibberen (to tremble or shake) · hi काँपना (to tremble or shake) · nl rillen (to tremble or shake) · sv huttra (to tremble or shake) · ru трясти́сь (to tremble or shake) · ta நடுங்கு (to tremble or shake) · eo tremi (to tremble or shake) · got 𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 (to tremble or shake) · el τουρτουρίζω (to tremble or shake) · la horreo (to tremble or shake) · ceb kigkig (to tremble or shake) · mi harawiri (to tremble or shake) · pt tiritar (to tremble or shake) · gl aterecer (to tremble or shake) · oc tremolar (to tremble or shake) · yi ציטערן (to tremble or shake) · ar اِرْتَجَفَ (to tremble or shake) · tl katal (to tremble or shake) · kix tǖngāungàu (to tremble or shake) · cmn 顫慄 /颤栗 (to tremble or shake) · ceb kurog (to tremble or shake) · ru дрожа́ть (to tremble or shake) · es titiritar (to tremble or shake) · tl kaligkig (to tremble or shake) · fi hytistä (to tremble or shake) · gl tremelicar (to tremble or shake) · nl huiveren (to tremble or shake)
From a Germanic word, probably present in Old English though unattested, cognate with Old High German scivaro (German Schiefer (“slate”)).
Meanings
A fragment or splinter, especially of glass or stone.
(Norfolk) A fragment or splinter, especially of glass or stone. ▸ A splinter of wood embedded in the flesh
(UK, dialectal, obsolete) A thin slice; a shive.
a shiver of their own loaf 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
A variety of blue slate.
A sheave or small wheel in a pulley.
A small wedge, as for fastening the bolt of a window shutter.
(UK, dialectal, obsolete) A spindle.
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
shivers
Number=Plur
lexicographic
Translations (2)
it scheggia (a stony or glassy fragment) · bg отломка (a stony or glassy fragment)
From a Germanic word, probably present in Old English though unattested, cognate with Old High German scivaro (German Schiefer (“slate”)).
Meanings
(transitive) To break into splinters or fragments.
he found a plaster bust of Napoleon, which stood with several other works of art upon the counter, lying shivered into fragments. 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, Norton, published 2005, page 1034:
But if, in the face of all this, you still declare that whaling has no aesthetically noble associations connected with it, then am I ready to shiver fifty lances with you there, and unhorse you with a split helmet every time. 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 24”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
A whole series of fault lines radiated away from this Lisbon earthquake, all of them shivering the structures of traditional order. 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 183:
The man, O Muse, inform, that many a way / Wound with his wisdom to his wished stay; / That wandered wondrous far, when he the town / Of sacred Troy had sack'd and shivered down; […] 1614–1615, Homer, “The First Book of Homer’s Odysseys”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume I, London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC, page 1, lines 1–4:
(intransitive) To be broken into splinters or fragments.
The dirty clay pipe dropped from the tremulous hand, and shivered against the iron fender, but the old man made no effort to find a fresh one; […] 1862, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret:
flocks of birds and shivers of sharks 2021, Christina Conklin, Marina Psaros, The Atlas of Disappearing Places: Our Coasts and Oceans in the Climate Crisis, page 100:
'Don't you remember?" she said. 'One was off the bow, another alongside, yet another off the stern. A shiver of sharks.' 2000, Marie Heaney, editor, Sunday Miscellany: A Selection from 1995-2000, Town House, page 22:
Shivers of sharks might attack divers, and here are methods of fighting them off. 2025, Georgia L. Irby, Greco-Roman Waters: A Sourcebook, Taylor & Francis: