shudder

Etymology

From Middle English schoderen, from Middle Dutch schudderen and/or Middle Low German schodderen, iterative forms of the verb at hand in Dutch schudden, Low German schüdden (both “to shake”), German schütten (“to pour”), from Proto-Germanic *skudjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *skewdʰ-. From Low German are also borrowed German schaudern (“to shudder”), Danish skudre.

verb

1. (intransitive) To shake nervously, often from fear or horror.
   On seeing the spider under his pillow, John shuddered.
   What makes me shudder so? / I shudder and I sigh to think / That even Cicero / And many-minded Homer were / Mad as the mist and snow. 1929, William Butler Yeats, Mad as the Mist and Snow
2. (intransitive) To vibrate jerkily.

noun

1. A shivering tremor, often from fear or horror.
   Seeing the spider under his pillow gave John a shudder.
2. A moment of almost pleasurable fear; a frisson.
   They name thee before me, / ⁠A knell to mine ear; / A shudder comes o'er me— / ⁠Why wert thou so dear? c. 1816, Lord Byron, When we Two parted