send shivers down someone's spine

English

Alternative forms

• send a shiver down someone's spine, send a shiver up someone's spine, send shivers up someone's spine
• send a chill down someone's spine, send chills down someone's spine, send a chill up someone's spine, send chills up someone's spine

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

send shivers down someone's spine (third-person singular simple present sends shivers down someone's spine, present participle sending shivers down someone's spine, simple past and past participle sent shivers down someone's spine)

1. (idiomatic, informal) To terrify; to make someone feel extremely nervous.

   Hearing that the killer escaped prison sent shivers down my spine.

Translations

terrify

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 發毛／发毛 (zh) (fāmáo)

• Finnish: saada kylmät väreet kulkemaan pitkin selkäpiitä
• French: faire froid dans le dos (fr)
• Galician: arrepiar (gl)
• German: jemandem kalt den Rücken runterlaufen
• Icelandic: (a shiver ran down his spine) það fór hrollur um hann
• Portuguese: dar um frio na barriga
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: lạnh sống lưng

See also

• give someone the creeps