different between shudder vs dither

English

Etymology

From Middle English *shudderen, *schuderen (suggested by Middle English shuddering, schudering (“shaking, quivering, shuddering”)), from Middle Dutch schudderen and/or Middle Low German schodderen, iterative forms of the verb at hand in Dutch schudden, Low German schüdden (both “to shake”), German schütten (“to pour”), from Proto-Germanic *skudjan?, from Proto-Indo-European *skewd?-. From Low German are also borrowed German schaudern (“to shudder”), Danish skudre.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???d?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???d?/
• Homophone: shutter (accents with flapping)
• Rhymes: -?d?(?)
• Hyphenation: shud?der

Noun

shudder (plural shudders)

1. A shivering tremor, often from fear or horror.
2. A moment of almost pleasurable fear; a frisson.

Synonyms

• (shivering tremor): jiggle, quake, rumble, quiver
• (frisson): shiver (cold), quiver, tingle, thrill

Translations

Verb

shudder (third-person singular simple present shudders, present participle shuddering, simple past and past participle shuddered)

1. (intransitive) To shake nervously, often from fear or horror.
2. (intransitive) To vibrate jerkily.

Synonyms

• (shake nervously): palpitate, shiver, shake, quake
• (vibrate jerkily): flutter, jiggle, shake, wiggle

Translations

See also

• judder

References

English

Etymology

Variant of didder, from Middle English didderen (“to tremble”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *titr?n?, whence also derived Old High German zittar?n (German zittern) and Old Norse titra (Faroese titra, Icelandic titra).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?d?ð?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?d?ð?/
• Rhymes: -?ð?(?)

Verb

dither (third-person singular simple present dithers, present participle dithering, simple past and past participle dithered) (intransitive)

1. To tremble, shake, or shiver with cold.
   • 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 8

     Presently he came running out of the scullery, with the soapy water dripping from him, dithering with cold.

2. To be uncertain or unable to make a decision about doing something.
   • 2012, The Economist, Sept. 22nd issue, Indian Reform: At Last

     The dithering Mr Singh of recent times may worry that his reform proposals are already too bold. The reforming Mr Singh of yore would see them as just the start.

3. To do something nervously.
4. (computer graphics) To render an approximation of (an image, etc.) by using dot patterns to approximate (the features of) colors not in the system palette.
5. To intentionally add noise to a signal to randomize errors.

Derived terms

• ditherer
• dithering
• ditheringly
• dithery

Related terms

• dodder

Translations

Noun

dither (countable and uncountable, plural dithers)

1. The state of being undecided.

1. A form of noise which is intentionally applied to randomize errors which occur in the processing of both digital audio and digital video data.
2. (computer graphics) The use of dot patterns to approximate colors not available in the palette.

Derived terms

• in a dither

Translations

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “dither”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• drieth, rideth, thirde