QUAVER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does quaver mean? 

• QUAVER (noun)
  The noun QUAVER has 2 senses:

1. a tremulous sound

2. a musical note having the time value of an eighth of a whole note

  Familiarity information: QUAVER used as a noun is rare.

• QUAVER (verb)
  The verb QUAVER has 2 senses:

1. give off unsteady sounds, alternating in amplitude or frequency

2. sing or play with trills, alternating with the half note above or below

  Familiarity information: QUAVER used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• QUAVER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A tremulous sound

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("quaver" is a kind of...):

sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)

Derivation:

quaver (give off unsteady sounds, alternating in amplitude or frequency)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A musical note having the time value of an eighth of a whole note

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

eighth note; quaver

Hypernyms ("quaver" is a kind of...):

musical note; note; tone (a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound)

Derivation:

quaver (sing or play with trills, alternating with the half note above or below)

• QUAVER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they quaver    ... he / she / it quavers   
Past simple: quavered   
Past participle: quavered   
-ing form: quavering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give off unsteady sounds, alternating in amplitude or frequency

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

quaver; waver

Hypernyms (to "quaver" is one way to...):

sound; vocalise; vocalize; voice (utter with vibrating vocal chords)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

quaver (a tremulous sound)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sing or play with trills, alternating with the half note above or below

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

quaver; trill; warble

Hypernyms (to "quaver" is one way to...):

sing (produce tones with the voice)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

quaver (a musical note having the time value of an eighth of a whole note)

 Context examples 

“Who are you, then? What do you want?” he asked in a quavering voice.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“The man you shot—he is—I hope?” Maud Brewster quavered.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He was voicing an utter woe, his cry bursting upward in great heart-breaking rushes, dying down into quavering misery, and bursting upward again with a rush upon rush of grief.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

From Wiltshire, friend, said she, in a quavering voice; three days have I been on the road.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"I don't know how to thank you," Madge quavered.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

If you will believe me, she went and knocked at the study door before she gave herself time to think, and when a gruff voice called out, come in! she did go in, right up to Mr. Laurence, who looked quite taken aback, and held out her hand, saying, with only a small quaver in her voice, I came to thank you, sir, for...

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

"Do you mean—?" she quavered.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

"Professor Challenger," said he, in a solemn voice, which quavered with emotion, "I owe you an apology. Sir, I am very much in the wrong, and I beg that you will forget what is past."

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Someone was singing, a dull, old, droning sailor's song, with a droop and a quaver at the end of every verse, and seemingly no end to it at all but the patience of the singer.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

And to cap it all, when Mercedes, with tears in her pretty eyes and a quaver in her throat, could not cajole him into giving the dogs still more, she stole from the fish-sacks and fed them slyly.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)