QUAVER

quaver

(noun) a tremulous sound

warble, trill, quaver

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

quaver, waver

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

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

quaver (plural quavers)

A trembling shake.

A trembling of the voice, as in speaking or singing.

(music) an eighth note, drawn as a crotchet (quarter note) with a tail.

Verb

quaver (third-person singular simple present quavers, present participle quavering, simple past and past participle quavered)

To shake in a trembling manner.

(intransitive) To use the voice in a trembling manner, as in speaking or singing.

(transitive) To utter quaveringly.

Source: Wiktionary


Qua"ver, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Quavered; p. pr. & vb. n. Quavering.] Etym: [OE. quaven to shake, to tremble; cf. LG. quabbeln to shake, to be soft, of fat substances, quabbe a fat lump of flesh, a dewlap, D. kwabbe, and E. quiver, v.]

1. To tremble; to vibrate; to shake. Sir I. Newton.

2. Especially, to shake the voice; to utter or form sound with rapid or tremulous vibrations, as in singing; also, to trill on a musical instrument

Qua"ver, v. t.

Definition: To utter with quavers. We shall hear her quavering them . . . to some sprightly airs of the opera. Addison.

Qua"ver, n.

1. A shake, or rapid and tremulous vibration, of the voice, or of an instrument of music.

2. (Mus.)

Definition: An eighth note. See Eighth.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

27 May 2025

DIRECTIONALITY

(noun) the property of being directional or maintaining a direction; “the directionality of written English is from left to right”


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