Shiver
Shiver , noun
[Old English schivere, from shive; compare German schifer a splinter, slate, Old High German scivere a splinter, Danish & Swedish skifer a slate. See Shive, and compare Skever.]
1.
One of the small pieces, or splinters, into which a brittle thing is broken by sudden violence; -- generally used in the plural.
All to shivers dashed.
2.
A thin slice; a shive. [Obsolete or Provincial English]
A shiver of their own loaf.
Of your soft bread, not but a shiver.
3.
(Geology) A variety of blue slate.
4.
(Nautical) A sheave or small wheel in a pulley.
5.
A small wedge, as for fastening the bolt of a window shutter.
6.
A spindle. [Obsolete or Provincial English]
Shiver , transitive verb
[Old English schiveren, scheveren; compare OD. scheveren. See Shiver a fragment.]
To break into many small pieces, or splinters; to shatter; to dash to pieces by a blow; as, to shiver a glass goblet.
All the ground
With shivered armor strown.
Shiver , intransitive verb
To separate suddenly into many small pieces or parts; to be shattered.
There shiver shafts upon shields thick.
The natural world, should gravity once cease,... would instantly shiver into millions of atoms.
Shiver , intransitive verb
[Old English chiveren, cheveren; of uncertain origin. This word seems to have been confused with shiver to shatter.]
To tremble; to vibrate; to quiver; to shake, as from cold or fear.
Prometheus is laid
On icy Caucasus to shiver.
The man that shivered on the brink of sin,
Thus steeled and hardened, ventures boldly in.
Shiver , transitive verb
(Nautical) To cause to shake or tremble, as a sail, by steering close to the wind.
Shiver , noun
The act of shivering or trembling.