shiver

Etymology 1

Origin uncertain, perhaps an alteration of chavel, or a frequentive of sheaf.

verb

1. To tremble or shake, especially when cold or frightened.
   They stood outside for hours, shivering in the frosty air.
   The man that shivered on the brink of sin, / Thus steeled and hardened, ventures boldly in. 1693, Thomas Creech, The thirteenth Satire of Juvenal
   Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth. 2013-06-07, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36
2. (nautical, transitive) To cause to shake or tremble, as a sail, by steering close to the wind.

noun

1. The act of shivering.
   A shiver went up my spine.
2. (medicine) A bodily response to early hypothermia.ᵂᵖ

Etymology 2

From a Germanic word, probably present in Old English though unattested, cognate with Old High German scivaro (German Schiefer (“slate”)).

noun

1. A fragment or splinter, especially of glass or stone.
2. (obsolete, UK, dialect) A thin slice; a shive.
3. (geology) A variety of blue slate.
4. (nautical) A sheave or small wheel in a pulley.
5. A small wedge, as for fastening the bolt of a window shutter.
6. (obsolete, UK, dialect) A spindle.

verb

1. To break into splinters or fragments.
   he found a plaster bust of Napoleon, which stood with several other works of art upon the counter, lying shivered into fragments. 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, Norton, published 2005, page 1034
   A whole series of fault lines radiated away from this Lisbon earthquake, all of them shivering the structures of traditional order. 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 183

Etymology 3

Origin uncertain

noun

1. Collective noun for a group of sharks