tremble

tremble — verb

1. When your body moves in small, quick shakes that you cannot stop on purpose, oft

1.verbintransitiveB1
Definition

When your body moves in small, quick shakes that you cannot stop on purpose, often because of a strong feeling such as fear or excitement, or when you are cold or ill.

Example

Ayesha's hands trembled as she opened the letter from the university.

tremble + with emotion (fear, excitement)

The old man's voice trembled when he spoke about the war.

Common collocations
  • tremble with fear
  • tremble with excitement
  • tremble from the cold
  • hands tremble
  • voice tremble
  • legs tremble
Synonyms
  • shake

    more general — can be voluntary or involuntary; tremble is always involuntary

  • shiver

    specifically from cold, not emotion

  • quiver

    smaller, more delicate movement; often for lips, voices, strings

Grammar Patterns

tremble + with/in/from + (emotion or cold)

tremble + so...that...

Usage Note

Often used with words such as 'with', 'from', or 'in' to tell the cause: tremble with fear, tremble from the cold, tremble in anger.

Common Mistakes

He trembled the table.
The table trembled.
tremble is almost always intransitive; you cannot tremble something else.

2. If the ground, a building, or an object trembles, it moves back and forth in sma

2.verbintransitiveB2
Definition

If the ground, a building, or an object trembles, it moves back and forth in small, quick shakes, often because of a loud noise, an explosion, or something heavy moving nearby.

Example

The ground trembled as the train passed through the old station.

subject: ground / building

The whole building trembled when the front door was slammed shut.

Common collocations
  • ground trembles
  • building trembles
  • windows tremble
  • floor trembles
Synonyms
  • shake

    more general; works for both people and objects

  • vibrate

    suggests a faster, more regular motion, often mechanical

Grammar Patterns

tremble + as/when + (event)

tremble + in + (location)

Usage Note

Subject is always the ground, a structure, or an object — never a person. The cause is typically physical: an explosion, a vehicle, or a loud impact.

Common Mistakes

The ground trembled me.
The ground trembled.
even when the ground causes a person to shake, the verb stays intransitive with the ground as subject.

3. To feel very worried or afraid about something that might happen, without actual

3.verbintransitiveB2
Definition

To feel very worried or afraid about something that might happen, without actually shaking physically.

Example

Ezra trembled at the thought of telling his parents about the accident.

tremble at the thought of [something]

The coach trembled to think how close the team had come to losing.

tremble + to + infinitive

Common collocations
  • tremble at the thought of
  • tremble at the idea of
  • tremble to think
  • tremble with anxiety
Synonyms
  • dread

    stronger — a deeper, longer-lasting fear of something specific

  • fear

    more direct; can take a direct object (fear something), which tremble cannot

Grammar Patterns

tremble + at + noun phrase

tremble + to + infinitive

tremble + with + anxiety/worry

Usage Note

This sense describes emotional fear or worry, not physical shaking. It frequently appears in fixed patterns: tremble at the thought/idea of..., or tremble to think...

tremble — noun

Word family

  • trembling
    adjectiveB1
  • tremblingly
    adverbC1
  • trembly
    adjectiveB2
  • tremor
    nounB2
  • tremulous
    adjectiveC1
  • tremulously
    adverbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Tremble, shake, shiver, quiver, and quake all describe small, quick movements, but the cause and context make them different. Shake is the most general word — you can shake from cold, fear, or on purpose while doing an exercise. Tremble specifically means shaking you cannot control, usually from a strong emotion like fear or excitement. Shiver is almost always about cold or a sudden chill — you shiver when you step outside without a coat. Quiver describes a smaller, more delicate movement: lips quiver when someone is about to cry, or a guitar string quivers after being plucked. Quake is the strongest of the group — it suggests whole-body shaking from intense fear. If someone is about to give a speech and their hands tremble, they are nervous and cannot help it. If they shake someone's hand, that is a deliberate action. If they shiver, the room is too cold.

shake ↗shiver ↗quiverquake ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • tremble with fear
  • tremble with excitement
  • tremble with anger
  • tremble from the cold
  • tremble at the thought
  • tremble at the idea

Prepositions

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanLatinOld FrenchEnglish

Tremble came into English through Old French trembler, which goes back to Latin tremulare, meaning 'to shake'. The Latin root tremulus ('shaking') comes from the verb tremere ('to tremble, to quake'), which itself traces to the Proto-Indo-European root *trem-, carrying the idea of shaking or trembling. The same ancient root also gave English the words 'tremor' and 'tremulous'.