Forms: Inf. 1 cwacian, (cwaec-, cuaec-), 2–3 quakie(n, (2 kwak-, 3 cwak-, 4 quakiȝen, 4 quaky), 4–5 quaken, (5 qvakyn, whakyn), 4–6 qwake, 4– quake, (4 quak, quack, 5 qvake, 5– north. whake, 5–6 Sc. quaik, 9 Sc. quack, quauk). Pa. t. 1 cwęcede, cwaecade, cwacode, 3 cwakede, 3–4 quakede, 4– quaked, (4 -id, 6 Sc. -et); also north. 4–5 quok, (4 qwok, quock), 4–6 quoke, quook, qwooke, 5 Sc. quouk, quowke, 6 quooke, Sc. qu(h)oik, quuik, 7 dial. whook’t. [OE. cwacian, not found in the cognate langs.; the stem cwac- is also the base of OE. cwęccan QUETCH, and the same initial combination occurs in other words implying agitation or instability, as quave, quap, quag (cf. note to QUAGMIRE). The strong form of the pa. t. in northern dialects is on anal. of shake, shook.]
1. intr. Of things: To shake, tremble, be agitated, as the result of external shock, internal convulsion, or natural instability.
Most frequently used, from the earliest period, with ref. to the earth (cf. EARTHQUAKE), and now somewhat rare even in this connection.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter ciii. 32. Se ʓelocað in eorðan & doeð hie cwaecian.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., II. vi. § 3. Ofer eall Romana rice seo eorþe was cwaciende & berstende.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 143. Eorþe scal kwakien on his ecsene.
c. 1205. Lay., 27111. Þa wal of stanen [sculden] quakien and fallen.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 7260. He it scok, Sua fast þat al þe hus quok.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVII. clix. (1495), 708. The Byrche … meuyth and quakith wyth a ryght softe blaste of wynde.
1412–20. Lydg., Chron. Troy, II. x. (1513), E v. I fele also My penne quake, and tremble in my honde.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, III. x. 34. The land all haill of Itaile trumbillit and quhoik.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., VIII. 129. Erdquakes … war hard, kirkes quaket and trimblet vehementlie.
1810. Scott, Lady of L., I. xii. With boughs that quaked at every breath, Grey birch and aspen wept beneath.
1871. Rossetti, Love’s Nocturn, vii. Quakes the pall, And the funeral goes by.
2. Of persons or animals, or parts of the body: To shake, tremble. a. By reason of cold or other physical cause. Now rare.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., I. 132. Ða teð cwaciað on swiðlicum cyle. Ibid., II. 312. Ic … cwacode eal on fefore.
a. 1225. Juliana, 21. [He] inwið bearnde of brune … & cwakede as of calde.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5196. Israel wit þis vplepp … þat quak [v.r. quake] wit ilka lim was won.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. XI. 46. Carful mon may crien … Bothe of hungur and of thurst, and for chele quake.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., xxviii. 70. When I for care and colde qwoke by a fyre burnyng full bright.
1501. Douglas, Pal. Hon., I. lviii. Skrymmorie fery gaue me mony a clowre For Chyppynutie ful oft my chaftis quuik.
1555. Eden, Decades, 12. Suche as inhabyte the mountaynes, syt quakynge for coulde in the wynter season.
1611. Shaks., Cymb., II. iv. 5. [I] quake in the present winters state, and wish That warmer dayes would come.
1784. Cowper, Task, IV. 385. [She] Retires, content to quake so they be warm’d.
1853. Kane, Grinnell Exp., xxxvii. (1856), 338. Came back again, dinnerless, with legs quaking.
b. Through fear. Freq. to quake for fear or dread; also to quake at, † for (the object of dread), and for (a thing or person in danger).
a. 900. Cynewulf, Crist, 797. Þonne cene cwacaþ, ʓehyreð cyning mæðlan.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Luke viii. 47. Þæt wif … cuaccende [Rushw. cwacende] cuom, & ʓefeall fore fotum his.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1534. Þe king … bigon to cwakien & nuste hwet seggen.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 12837. For drednes ilk lim him quok.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 10726. Tounes, castels, for hym þey quok.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Frankl. T., 132. For verray feere so wolde hir herte quake That on hire feet she myghte hire noght sustene.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst. vii. 182. Euery man shall whake and gryse Agans that ilk dome.
1558. Knox, First Blast (Arb.), 32. They reuerence them, and qwake at their presence.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, II. (Arb.), 68. Yoong children … With cold hert moothers, for Greekish victorye quaking.
1603. Drayton, Bar. Wars, VI. lxxxvii. That ne’er quayles me, at which your greatest quake.
1641. Hinde, J. Bruen, xlvii. 154. At which time … the Devill will quake, yea he doth quake for feare now.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 44, ¶ 1. The sounding of the Clock in Venice Preserved, makes the Hearts of the whole Audience quake.
1759. Robertson, Hist. Scot., VIII. Wks. 1813, II. 52. The fellow in the study stood quaking and trembling.
1800. Wellington, Lett. to Lieut. Col. Close, in Gurw., Desp. (1837), I. 103. I quake for the fort at Munserabad.
1847. J. Wilson, Chr. North (1857), II. 22. Our heart quaked too desperately to suffer us to shriek.
1882. ‘Ouida,’ Maremma, I. 18. His name was a terror that made the dead quake in their graves.
refl. a. 1300. Cursor M., 19633 (Gött.). Saul him quok, sun was he rad.
† c. With anger. Obs. rare.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 292. Þe kyng his wordes toke wraþefully tille herte, For ire nere he quoke.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., IV. pr. iii. 94 (Camb. MS.). Yif he be distempre and quakith for Ire, men shal weene þat he bereþ the corage of a lyon.
† 3. trans. To cause to quake. Obs.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., X. v. (1495), 377. A full lytyll puffynge of wynde quakyth and styryth flamme.
1607. Shaks., Cor., I. ix. 6. Where ladies shall be frighted, And gladly quak’d, heare more.
1614. H. Greenwood, Jayle Deliv., 468. The property of the Law is to humble and quake us for our sins.
1639. Heywood, Lond. peaceable Est., Wks. 1874, V. 372. Cannon … quaking the bellowing Ayre.
4. Comb., as † quake-belly, a fat-bellied person; † quake-breech, -buttock, one wanting in courage; † quakeful a., causing fear or quaking; † quakemire, a quagmire; also as vb., to quagmire; quake-ooze, soft trembling ooze; quake-tail Ornith. (see quot. 1894).
1622. Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., 223. They will all forsooth be alike, the tall man as the short, the *Quack-belly as the Scranio.
c. 1590. in Drake, Secr. Mem. Earl Leicester (1706), 118. I shall surely be *Quack-breech and think every Bush a Boggle.
1616. Withal’s Dict., 400. Excors,… a faint hearted fellow, a quake-breech.
a. 1616. Beaum. & Fl., Wit at Sev. Weap., I. i. Stand putting in one foot, and shiver,… like a *quake-buttock.
1609. Heywood, Brit. Troy, XIII. xxxii. All imbrude in fight, His *Quakefull hand and sword so often rearing.
1577. Stanyhurst, Descr. Irel., in Holinshed (1807–8), VI. 21. He was forced to fasten the *quakemire with hurdels, and upon them to build the citie.
1583. Stocker, Civ. Warres Lowe C., II. 70 a. His horse was gotten into a quackmyre.
1599. Chapman, Hum. dayes Myrth, Plays 1873, I. 73. Howe nowe my liege! what, quackemyred in Philosophie.
1898. [Denham Jordan], in Daily News, 23 Nov., 6/2. It was drifted, one heavy flood-tide, over a lot of *quake-ooze flats, where a boat could not get.
1855. Ogilvie, Imp. Dict., Suppl. *Quake-tail.
1894. Newton, Dict. Birds, Quake-tail, a book-name invented for the Yellow Wagtail and its allies, after they had been generically separated from Motacilla as Budytes.
