Definition of "quaver"

quaver

/ˈkweɪvə(ɹ)/

noun
plural quavers
1. A trembling shake.
2. A trembling of the voice, as in speaking or singing.
3. (music) an eighth note, drawn as a crotchet (quarter note) with a tail.
  Quotations
  The crotchets and quavers are dancing up and down the stave like little black boys on a fence.
  1920 August 27, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “The Wind Blows”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, pages 140–141
verb
third-person singular simple present quavers, present participle quavering, simple past and past participle quavered
1. To shake in a trembling manner.
2. (intransitive) To use the voice in a trembling manner, as in speaking or singing.
3. (transitive) To utter quaveringly.
  Quotations
  We shall hear her quavering them […] to some sprightly airs of the opera.
  1711 November 5 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “THURSDAY, October 25, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 205; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853