quiver

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[edit] English

bow and quiver

[edit] Pronunciation

  • /kwĭvər/
  • [kw̥ɪvə(ɹ)]
  • Rhymes: -ɪvə(r)

[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English via Anglo-Norman quiveir, from Old French quivre and cuevre, from West Germanic *kokar-, whence also Old English cocer, Old High German kohhar

[edit] Noun

Singular
quiver

Plural
quivers

quiver (plural quivers)

  1. (Weapon) A container for arrows, crossbow bolts or darts, such as those fired from a bow, crossbow or blowgun.
    • 1598: Don Pedro: Nay, if Cupid have not spent all his quiver in Venice, thou wilt quake for this shortly. Benedick:I look for an earthquake too then. — William Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing, Act I, Scene I, line 271.
    • 1786: Arrows were carried in quiver, called also an arrow case, which served for the magazine, arrows for immediate use were worn in the girdle. — Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 39.
  2. Figuratively, a ready storage location for figurative tools or weapons.
    • He's got lots of sales pitches in his quiver.
  3. (obsolete) The collective noun for cobras.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Etymology 2

From Middle English cwiver, from Old English *cwifer

[edit] Adjective

quiver (comparative more quiver, superlative most quiver)

Positive
quiver

Comparative
more quiver

Superlative
most quiver

  1. (archaic) Nimble, active.
    • 1598: ... there was a little quiver fellow, and 'a would manage you his piece thus; and 'a would about and about, and come you in and come you in. — William Shakespeare, Henry V, Part II, Act III, Scene II, line 281.

[edit] Etymology 3

From Middle English quiveren (lang-enm), probably from the adjective.

[edit] Verb

Infinitive
to quiver

Third person singular
quivers

Simple past
quivered

Past participle
quivered

Present participle
quivering

to quiver (third-person singular simple present quivers, present participle quivering, simple past and past participle quivered)

  1. (intransitive) To shake or move with slight and tremulous motion; to tremble; to quake; to shudder; to shiver.
    • 1593: The birds chaunt melody on every bush, The snake lies rolled in the cheerful sun, The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind And make a checker'd shadow on the ground. — William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, Act II, Scene III, line 12.

[edit] Translations
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