different between quake vs waver

English

Etymology

From Middle English quaken, from Old English cwacian (“to quake, tremble, chatter”), from Proto-Germanic *kwak?n? (“to shake, quiver, tremble”), from Proto-Indo-European *g?og- (“to shake, swing”), related to Old English cwe??an (“to shake, swing, move, vibrate, shake off, give up”) (see quitch), Dutch kwakkelen (“to ail, be ailing”), German Quackelei (“chattering”), Danish kvakle (“to bungle”), Latin v?x? (“toss, shake violently, jostle, vex”), Irish bogadh (“a move, movement, shift, change”).

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kwe?k/
• Rhymes: -e?k

Noun

quake (plural quakes)

1. A trembling or shaking.

   We felt a quake in the apartment every time the train went by.

2. An earthquake, a trembling of the ground with force.

   California is plagued by quakes; there are a few minor ones almost every month.

Translations

Verb

quake (third-person singular simple present quakes, present participle quaking, simple past and past participle quaked or (archaic) quoke or (obsolete) quook)

1. (intransitive) To tremble or shake.
   • 1575-86, Sir Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia

     Dorus threw Pamela behind a tree; where she stood quaking like the partridge on which the hawk is even ready to seize.
2. (intransitive, figuratively) To be in a state of fear, shock, amazement, etc., such as might cause one to tremble.

   • Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

   • 1598-99, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act I, Scene I

     If Cupid have not spent all his quiver in / Venice, thou wilt quake for this shortly.

   • 1599-1602, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III, Scene II

     Now could I drink hot blood / And do such bitter business as the bitter day / Would quake to look on.

   • 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, part 2, Act IV, Scene VIII

     Who honours not his father, Henry the fifth, that made all France to quake, Shake he his weapon at us, and pass by.

   • Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and carefulness.

Derived terms

• quakebreech
• quakebuttock
• Quaker

Translations

German

Pronunciation

Verb

quake

1. inflection of quaken:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. singular imperative
   3. first/third-person singular subjunctive I

Middle English

Verb

quake

1. Alternative form of quaken

English

Etymology

From Middle English waveren, from Old Norse vafra (“to flicker”), akin to Old English w?fre (“restless, wavering”). Related to wave.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?we?.v?(?)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?we?.v?/
• Rhymes: -e?v?(?)
• Homophone: waiver

Verb

waver (third-person singular simple present wavers, present participle wavering, simple past and past participle wavered)

1. (intransitive) To sway back and forth; to totter or reel.

   Flowers wavered in the breeze.

   • 1523–1525, Jean Froissart, John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners (translator), Froissart's Chronicles

     With banners and pennons wavering with the wind.
2. (intransitive) To flicker, glimmer, quiver, as a weak light.
3. (intransitive) To fluctuate or vary, as commodity prices or a poorly sustained musical pitch.
4. (intransitive) To shake or tremble, as the hands or voice.

   His voice wavered when the reporter brought up the controversial topic.

5. (intransitive) To falter; become unsteady; begin to fail or give way.
   • 2014, Jacob Steinberg, "Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals", The Guardian, 9 March 2014:

     Although they believe they can overhaul their 2-0 deficit, they cannot afford to be as lethargic as this at Camp Nou, and the time is surely approaching when Manuel Pellegrini's faith in Martín Demichelis wavers.

6. (intransitive) To be indecisive between choices; to feel or show doubt or indecision; to vacillate.

   Despite all the terrible things that happened to her, she never wavered from her beliefs.

Translations

Noun

waver (plural wavers)

1. An act of wavering, vacillating, etc.
2. Someone who waves, enjoys waving, etc.

   I felt encouraged by all the enthusiastic wavers in the crowd.

   The Fourth of July brings out all the flag wavers.

   Johnny is such a little waver; everyone who passes by receives his preferred greeting.

3. Someone who specializes in waving (hair treatment).
4. A tool that accomplishes hair waving.
5. (Britain, dialect, dated) A sapling left standing in a fallen wood.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Translations

See also

• waiver

References

• waver at OneLook Dictionary Search
• waver in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.