▪ I. tremble, n.
(ˈtrɛmb(ə)l)
Forms: see the verb.
[f. tremble v.]
1. An act or the action of trembling; a fit or state of trembling; a tremor; a vibration.
| 1609 Bible (Douay) 2 Esdras xv. 37 They shal shake..and tremble shal take them. 1677 Phil. Trans. XII. 836 (According to him) Sound may be caused by the tremble of solid bodies without the presence of gross Air. 1719, 1760–72 [see b]. 1775 Ash, Tremble (s. colloquial, from the verb), a tremor. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxvii, A terrible tremble crept over her whole frame. 1884 T. Woolner Silenus i. ii. 21 Sitting beside the reeds He saw a tremble shivering thro' their leaves. 1894 ‘Ian Maclaren’ Bonnie Brier Bush, Cunning Sp. Drumtochty (1895) 185 He micht gie a bit trimmil. |
b. In colloq. phrases (all) in, all of a tremble, on or upon the tremble, trembling, esp. with agitation or excitement.
| 1719 Miss Howe in Lett. C'tess Suffolk (1824) I. 39 Mama has invited me to stay here,..which put me in such a tremble that I am hardly recovered. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 151, I am already all of a tremble. 1800 Lamb Let. to Manning, I am still on the tremble, for I do not know where we could go. 1818 Coleridge in Lit. Rem. (1836) I. 206 Why should I be in such a tremble all the while he talked? 1830 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 35/2 He seemed all of a totter and tremble. |
c. Tremulousness or unsteadiness (of the voice) caused by emotion.
| 1779 Mirror No. 54 ¶13 There is a melting tremble in her voice, which..is inimitably beautiful and affecting. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxxiii, A deep impassioned earnestness..that made the very tremble in her voice a part of her firmness. |
2. pl. the trembles: Any disease or condition characterized by an involuntary shaking, as ague or palsy (esp. in sheep); the tremor due to mercurialism, delirium tremens, etc.; the ‘shakes’; in N. Amer., milk-sickness (milk n. 10).
| 1812 J. Walker Ess. Nat. Hist. 525 Ovis in pascuis montosis morbo obnoxia est, hactenus insanabili,..the Trembles. 1848 A. S. Taylor Poisons xxxiii. 561 The disease produced by the use of the flesh or milk of animals fed in these districts, is known under the name of milk-sickness, or trembles. 1860 Mayne Expos. Lex., Trembles, a popular term for the disorder mercurial tremor. 1864 Hawthorne S. Felton (1883) 321 A hardness of hearing, and a dimness of sight, and the trembles. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iv. viii, What are popularly called ‘the trembles’ being in full force upon him. 1887 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sc. V. 9/1 The flesh of an animal suffering from trembles..would also produce the disease [milk-sickness]. |
3. The American aspen, Populus tremuloides.
| 1749 in Rep. Comm. Ho. Comm. II. 246/2 (Hudson's Bay Co.) The Beavers chiefest Food is, the Poplar or Tremble. 1770 J. R. Forster tr. Kalm's Trav. N. Amer. (1772) II. 356 They likewise make use of those which grow on the asp-tree or tremble. |
▪ II. † tremble, a. Obs. rare—1.
[ad. L. tremulus, after next.]
Trembling.
| 1568 Turner Herbal iii. 81 To be geuen..vnto them that haue the palsey, or any num or tremble member. |
▪ III. tremble, v.
(ˈtrɛmb(ə)l)
Forms: α. 4–5 tremle, -el, -yl, (4 trenle, Sc. tremal), 5 -ylle, -ul, trymmel, 5–6 Sc. tri-, trymle, 6 Sc. trimm-, trymm-, -le, -yll, etc., trumle, 9 Sc. trimmil; β. 4–6 trem-, (trim-, trym-), -bel, -byl, etc., (6 trumbill), 4– tremble.
[a. F. trembler (11th c. in Godef. Compl.):—pop. and med.L. tremulāre (Du Cange), by which the early tremel, -le, -yl form may have been influenced, f. L. tremul-us tremulous, f. tremĕre to tremble, quake, shake. Cf. Prov. tremblar, Sp. temblar, It. tremolare.]
1. intr. Of persons (less commonly of animals), or of the body or a limb: To shake involuntarily as with fear or other emotion, cold, or weakness; to quake, quiver, shiver.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 9390 Hys herte began to tremle and colde. 13.. St. Cristofer 629 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 461 For ferde he tremlide ylka bone. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xvi. (Magdalena) 877 He tremaland, as he mocht. Ibid. xxxiii. (George) 257 Fast tremeland. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. 5425, I..þat..Fele myn hond boþe tremble and quake. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) i. xv. 11, I tremble as doth a leef vpon a tree. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 458 Trewlie that tenefull [a tiger] was trimland than. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 6 We tremble naked, and dye almost for colde. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Furies 204 At every word they trimbléd then for aw. a 1668 Davenant Siege ii. i, I tremble like a tender Lamb, In a cold Winter night. 1681 J. Flavel Meth. Grace ix. 192 The bird that has been delivered out of the tallons of the hawk, trembles afterward at the noise of his bells. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian i, He trembled with anxiety. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 51, I felt Leslie's hand tremble on my arm. a 1850 Rossetti Dante & Circ. i. (1874) 94 Gives me full oft a fear that trembleth: So that I call on Death. Ibid. 167 Ah! Ballad, unto thy dear offices I do commend my soul, thus trembling. |
b. fig. and rhet. To be affected with dread or apprehension, or with any feeling that is accompanied by trembling. Const. at, for, to do something.
| c 1400 Apol. Loll. 55 W[h]o is þe formar and original cause..of þis þus gret iuel, I drede ungly to sey, tremel and quake. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 6018, I trimyll tyll heir tell The terribyll Turmentyng of hell. 1562 Winȝet Last Blast Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 40 We exhorte ȝow..to feir and trimble at the feirfull exemplis of deid. 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Bristol 1 Apr., The Grand Signior, with all his absolute power, trembles at a janissary's frown. 1766 Gray Kingsgate 6 Earl Goodwin trembled for his neighbouring sand. 1778 Cowper Hymn, ‘What various hindrances we meet’ iii, Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees. 1815 Shelley Dæmon 282 While human tongues Tremble to speak. 1911 R. R. Marett Anthropol. ii. 43 Then man presumably killed game..on top of the Wealden dome, how many years ago one trembles to think. |
2. Of things: To be agitated or affected with vibratory motion; to shake, quake, quiver.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. met. i. 1 (Camb. MS.) The slake skyn tremblyth of myn emptyd body. c 1375 Cursor M. 24413 (Fairf.) Þe erþ be-gan to tremble & quake. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop iv. xiv, Whan the toune is taken..the Country aboute..ouȝt to tremble and shake. 1555 Eden Decades 322 The poynt of the needle styll respected the northe..sauynge that it sumwhat trembeled and declyned a lyttle. 1697 Dryden æneid x. 418 They run their ships aground: the vessels knock,..and tremble with the shock. 1827 Carlyle Misc., Richter (1869) 20 Then began the Aeolian Harp of the Creation to tremble and to sound. 1908 [Miss Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 39 A little Harebell trembling in the breeze. |
b. Said of the tremulous or vibratory motion or effect of light, sound, speech, etc.
| c 1400 [see trembling vbl. n.]. c 1440 Partonope 5790 Wyth voys tremelyng. a 1628, 1634 [see trembling ppl. a.]. 1708 Pope Ode St. Cecilia 17 In broken air, trembling, the wild music floats. Ibid. 114 Yet ev'n in death..Eurydice still trembled on his tongue. 1737 ― Imit. Hor. ii. vi. 189 Tell how the Moon-beam trembling falls. 1821 Shelley Epipsych. 548 Where the pebble-paven shore..Trembles and sparkles as with ecstasy. 1842 Tennyson Vision of Sin 17 Low voluptuous music winding trembled. |
c. fig.
| 1819 Shelley Fragm., Questions 8 A dream, Part of which comes true, and part Beats and trembles in the heart. a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1869) III. iii. 121 The liberties of Scotland..were trembling in the balance. |
† 3. trans. To regard with trembling or dread; to tremble at. (Cf. L. tremĕre.) Obs. rare.
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. lxvi. 2 To whom..shall I beholde, but to my porelet [Vulg. pauperculum] and contrit in spirit, and tremblende [trementem] my wrdis? 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 185 Thy mother, whome the companyes of helles tremel and drede. 1565 T. Stapleton Fortr. Faith 104 That whiche..the deuil, aboue al thinges, trembleth. |
4. To cause to tremble or shake.
| 1591 Spenser Virg. Gnat 616 Either Scipion..To whom the ruin'd walls of Carthage vow'd, Trembling their forces, sound their praises lowd. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, xxv, The Palsey of the common Earth, Trembles my Quill. 1651 W. Durham Maran-atha (1652) 11 It was much that a prisoner should so soon tremble his Judge. 1746 Tansur New Mus. Gram. 23 A Shake, or Trilloe,..is to shake, tremble, or warble your Voice, or Instrument. 1818 Keats Endym. i. 468 Thou art as a dove Trembling its closed eyes. 1850 Mrs. Browning Woman's Shortcomings ii, She trembles her fan. |
5. intr. To pass tremulously. Chiefly poet.
| 1730–46 Thomson Autumn 151 Soon as the morning trembles o'er the sky And unperceived unfolds the spreading day. 1795 Coleridge Eolian Harp 46 Organic Harps..That tremble into thought. a 1817 T. Dwight Trav. New Eng. etc. (1821) II. 413 With a snail-like progress..we trembled through this part of our way. 1842 Tennyson Talking Oak 161 A teardrop trembled from its source. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 295 On the dial of time the shadow has not yet trembled over the line that marks the beginning of the first century. |
6. trans. tremble out: To utter tremulously or falteringly.
| 1868 A. I. Menken Infelicia 35 And trembling out prayers, and waiting to die. |
Hence ˈtrembled ppl. a., made to tremble.
| 1819 Keats Ode to Psyche 11 The whispering roof Of leaves and trembled blossoms. |