TREMBLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tremble mean? 

• TREMBLE (noun)
  The noun TREMBLE has 1 sense:

1. a reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement

  Familiarity information: TREMBLE used as a noun is very rare.

• TREMBLE (verb)
  The verb TREMBLE has 1 sense:

1. move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways

  Familiarity information: TREMBLE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TREMBLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

shake; shiver; tremble

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

inborn reflex; innate reflex; instinctive reflex; physiological reaction; reflex; reflex action; reflex response; unconditioned reflex (an automatic instinctive unlearned reaction to a stimulus)

Derivation:

tremble (move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways)

• TREMBLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they tremble    ... he / she / it trembles   
Past simple: trembled   
Past participle: trembled   
-ing form: trembling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

His hands were trembling when he signed the document

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

agitate; shake (move or cause to move back and forth)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tremble"):

shiver; shudder; thrill; throb (tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement)

palpitate; quake; quiver (shake with fast, tremulous movements)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

The crowds tremble in the streets
The streets tremble with crowds

Derivation:

tremble (a reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement)

trembler (one who quakes and trembles with (or as with) fear)

trembling (a shaky motion)

 Context examples 

"I am Oz, the Great and Terrible," said the little man, in a trembling voice.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Then he shrank for fear, turned pale, and trembled.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I slipped out of the room, unobserved by any eye—for the company were gathered in one mass about the trembling trio just returned—and I closed the door quietly behind me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I trembled all the while betwixt fear and hatred.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I tremble and tremble even yet, though till all was over, God be thanked, my nerve did stand.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

But when he came to go, Amy held him back to whisper with trembling lips, "Is there really any danger about Beth?"

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Catherine trembled from head to foot.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

“What do you think? You have got a Pa!” I trembled, and turned white.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She had spoken it; but she trembled when it was done, conscious that her words were listened to, and daring not even to try to observe their effect.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

"What makes you tremble so?" he asked.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)