v. & n.
--v.
1. intr. a (esp. of a voice or musical sound) vibrate, shake, tremble. b use trills or shakes in singing.
2 tr. a sing (a note or song) with quavering. b (often foll. by out) say in a trembling voice.
--n.
1. Mus. a note having the time value of an eighth of a semibreve or half a crotchet and represented by a large dot with a hooked stem. Also called eighth note.
2 a trill in singing.
3 a tremble in speech.
Derivatives:
quaveringly adv.
Etymology: ME f. quave, perh. f. OE cwafian (unrecorded: cf. cwacian QUAKE)