From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishquaverqua‧ver1 /ˈkweɪvə $ -ər/ verb [intransitive, transitive] SHAKEif your voice quavers, it shakes as you speak, especially because you are nervous or upset ‘It’s not true, ’ she said, in a quavering voice. ‘No, ’ he quavered. —quavery adjective→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
quaver• Her voice quavered as she recounted details of the attack.quaverquaver2 noun [countable] 1 British EnglishAPM a musical note which continues for an eighth of the length of a semibreve SYN eighth note American English2 CSHAKEa shaking sound in your voiceExamples from the Corpus
quaver• The rapid bowed quavers of the former become the rapid staccato semiquavers of the latter.• The repeating shape of the accompaniment in quavers is designed to recur only at the first beat of the seventh bar.• Finally, the third rhythm forms a contrastingly smooth arpeggio which sweeps upwards in pairs of quavers.• His voice carried a barely perceptible quaver.• The quaver would be far too quick for the pizzicato, especially in chord work like this.• The smile appears forced, unsteady, seems to quaver, though it is frozen in silver nitrate.Origin quaver (1400-1500) quave “to shake” ((13-19 centuries)) 