Two Different Words Spelled Shiver
To shiver is to tremble with cold. A second, unrelated shiver means to shatter into fragments — the one in shiver me timbers.
To shiver is to tremble, usually from cold or fear. English has a second shiver with no connection to the first: it means to break into splinters, and it survives mainly in the nautical oath *shiver me timbers*, which imagines a ship's frame shattering. One word trembles, the other shatters, and they simply collided in spelling.
- To tremble. *She shivered in the doorway.*
- Noun, a tremble. *A shiver went through him.*
- To shatter (archaic). *The lance shivered on impact.*
- A splinter (archaic). *Broken to shivers.*
- Give someone the shivers — unsettle them. *That house gives me the shivers.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | shiver | I shiver easily. |
| Past | shivered | He shivered once. |
| Noun | shiver | A cold shiver. |
| Plural noun | shivers | The shivers. |
| Adjective | shivery | A shivery evening. |
- He shivered until the fire caught.Cold.
- A shiver ran down her spine.Fear, a fixed image.
- Shiver me timbers!The shatter sense, in a fictional pirate voice.
Trembling words compared
- Shiver — small rapid trembling, usually cold
- Shudder — one strong involuntary movement, usually revulsion
- Tremble — general, from cold, fear or weakness
- Quiver — light and quick, often of a voice or lip
- Shake — the broadest of them, any cause
Middle English *chiveren*, of uncertain origin, for the trembling sense. The shattering sense is a separate word from Middle English *shivere*, a splinter, related to German *Schiefer*.
What does shiver me timbers mean?
It calls on the ship's timbers to shatter — a mock oath of shock. It comes from the second, unrelated shiver meaning to splinter.
Why do we shiver when cold?
Rapid muscle contraction generates heat. The trembling is the body burning energy to keep its core temperature up.