What does "quiver" mean?
A container for arrows, crossbow bolts or darts, such as those fired from a bow, crossbow or blowgun.
Quiver
/ˈkwɪvə/ adj, name, noun, verb
adj, name, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A container for arrows, crossbow bolts or darts, such as those fired from a bow, crossbow or blowgun.
- Grammar: quiver is listed as adj, name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: shiver, aflicker, all-overs, arrow case.
- Useful contrasts: calm, stabilize, steady.
- Usage evidence: In mathematics, a quiver is a directed graph.
How to use "quiver"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "quiver" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "quiver" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "quiver" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "quiver" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "quiver" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "shiver" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "quiver", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A container for arrows, crossbow bolts or darts, such as those fired from a bow, crossbow or blowgun.
"Don Pedro: Nay, if Cupid have not spent all his quiver in Venice, thou wilt quake for this shortly."
- 2 the act of vibrating wordnet
- 3 A ready storage location for figurative tools or weapons. figuratively
"He's got lots of sales pitches in his quiver."
- 4 case for holding arrows wordnet
- 5 A vulva. obsolete
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 an almost pleasurable sensation of fright wordnet
- 7 The collective noun for cobras. obsolete
- 8 a shaky motion wordnet
- 9 A multidigraph, especially in the context of representation theory.
Verb
- 1 To shake or move with slight and tremulous motion. intransitive
"The birds chaunt melodie on euerie buſh, The ſnakes^([sic – meaning ſnake]) lies rolled in the chearefull ſunne, The greene leaues quiuer with the cooling winde, And make a checkerd ſhadow on the ground: [...]"
- 2 move back and forth very rapidly wordnet
- 3 move with or as if with a regular alternating motion wordnet
- 4 shake with fast, tremulous movements wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Nimble, active. archaic
"[...] there was a little quiver fellow, and 'a would manage you his piece thus; and 'a would about and about, and come you in and come you in."
Proper Noun
- 1 A stream in Illinois, United States; in full, Quiver Creek.
- 2 A township in Mason County, Illinois, United States, named after Quiver Creek.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"In mathematics, a quiver is a directed graph."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "quiver"?
Common synonyms include: shiver, aflicker, all-overs, arrow case, arrow holder, bale.
How do you use "quiver" in a sentence?
In mathematics, a quiver is a directed graph.
How do you pronounce "quiver"?
Pronounced /ˈkwɪvə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English quiver, from Anglo-Norman quivre, from Old Dutch cocare (source of Dutch koker, and cognate to Old English cocer (“quiver, case”)), from Proto-West Germanic *kokar (“container”), said to be from Hunnic, possibly from Proto-Mongolic *kökexür (“leather vessel for liquids”); see there for more. Replaced early modern cocker, the inherited reflex of that West Germanic word. The mathematical sense originated as German Köcher in a 1972 paper by Pierre Gabriel; it was likely chosen because a quiver contains arrows, while a digraph contains directed edges (also called "arrows").
Etymology 2
From Middle English quiver, cwiver, from Old English *cwifer, probably related to cwic (“alive”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English quiveren, probably from the adjective.
Etymology 4
Corruption of the French Cuivre, from cuivre (“copper”).