Definition of "quaver" []

• To quiver, as from weakness; tremble. (verb-intransitive)
• To speak in a quivering voice; utter a quivering sound. (verb-intransitive)
• Music To produce a trill on an instrument or with the voice. (verb-intransitive)
• To utter or sing in a trilling voice. (verb-transitive)
• A quivering sound. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The English term for eighth-notes gets it right with "quaver", since these and other notes can do exactly that when played with alternating intensity, and even, suggests Quantz, duration."
• "When I have something to say, I do not waver and quaver around it like this."
• "It does not matter, though, because even philosophers quaver in the face of death, Socrates notwithstanding."