tremblern.
/ˈtrɛmblə/, U.S. /ˈtrɛmb(ə)lər/ One who or that which trembles.† 2. A name given to those whose devotional exercises were accompanied by trembling, quaking, or shaking; spec. a Quaker. Obsolete or Historical.
1. One who trembles, esp. with fear; a timorous or terrified person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > timidity > [noun] > one who is timid
sheep1542
trembler1552
sheep's hearta1616
mouse1839
feartie1923
Nervous Nellie1925
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Trembler, tremulus, i.
1649 H. Hammond Christians Obligations ii. 40 Those base submissions, that the covetous Mammonist, or cowardly trembler drudges under.
1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 199 Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace The day's disasters in his morning face.
1878 J. R. Seeley Life & Times Stein II. 531 A frightened trembler and maker of obeisances.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Quakerism > [noun] > person
meeter1646
shaker1648
Quaker1651
friend1656
yea-and-nay1685
trembler1689
Whaker1700
broad-brim1749
plain Friend1774
shad-belly1842
drabman1860
1678 R. Barclay Apol. Quakers (1736) xi. §8. 359 Sometimes the Power of God will break forth;..every individual will be strongly exercised, as in a Day of Battle; and there~by Trembling and a Motion of Body will be upon most, if not upon all:..And from this, the name of Quakers, i.e. Tremblers, was first Reproachfully cast upon us.]
1689 R. Ware Foxes & Firebrands: Pt. III 198 These Sectaries..be as follows: 1 Independents..17 Quakers, or Tremblers.
1706 E. Ward Hudibras Redivivus I. x. 21 Of these quaint primitive Dissemblers, In old queen Bess's Days call'd Tremblers.
a1741 T. Chalkley Wks. (1766) 101 I was one called a Quaker, or Trembler.
1820 tr. Trav. Cosmo III (1821) 447 The sect of the Tremblers or Quakers was begun by James Naylor.
3. transferred. Applied to:
a. a fish which gives an electric shock, as the electric eel of Africa.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > superorder Ostariophysi or order Cypriniformes > [noun] > suborder Gymnotoidei > member of family Electrophoridae (electric eel)
electric eel1774
gymnotus1775
trembling eel1805
gymnote1813
trembler1832
1832 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. (ed. 2) II. 106 The trembler, or Silurus electricus [belongs] to the rivers of Africa.
b. a bird or other animal which keeps up a shaking motion of the tail or body.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by habits or actions > [noun] > that trembles
trembler1867
1867 P. L. Sclater & O. Salvin Exotic Ornithol. Pl. x Cinclocerthia ruficauda, (Red-tailed Trembler).
1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Trembler,..2. any of certain West Indian birds of the genera Cinclocerthia and Rhamphocinclus, of the family Mimidæ.
4. A vibrating spring blade which alternately makes and breaks the circuit in an induction coil. Also, such a blade used as a make-and-break sensitive to physical disturbance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrically induced magnetism > electromagnetic induction > [noun] > induction coil > vibrating blade
trembler1877
buzzer1882
trembler-blade1904
trembler-coil1908
1877 Telegr. Jrnl. 15 Nov. 280/1 M. Trouvé, Paris, has made some improvements in the contact-breaker or trembler of induction coils.
1877 Telegr. Jrnl. 15 Nov. 280/1 Vibrating stem of the trembler.
1903 Motor. Ann. 80 Troubles..caused through the petrol, float-jet, or tremblers not having been understood by the motorist.
1907 Daily News 10 Apr. 6 Next the trembler in the coil stuck, and the engine stopped.
1943 N. Balchin Small Back Room xv. 185 It was the terminals I had to get wires on to, not the trembler.
1958 A. B. Hartley Unexploded Bomb ii. 13 When the bomb struck its target..the shock caused the trembler to function and electrically to ignite the flash-pellet in the base of the fuze.
1973 J. Drummond Bang! Bang! You're Dead! xii. 26 A Banx is an anti-personnel device... Set it for time-fuse, or a trigger-action, even a trembler.
1978 R. Jansson News Caper 8 I held the control column rock steady, as if it were a bomb with a trembler fuse.
Compounds
C1. General attributive (in sense 4).
trembler-blade n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrically induced magnetism > electromagnetic induction > [noun] > induction coil > vibrating blade
trembler1877
buzzer1882
trembler-blade1904
trembler-coil1908
1904 in Westm. Gaz. 28 May 5/3 The trembler blade which governs the spark, and is in its turn controlled by the movement of the motor.
trembler-coil n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrically induced magnetism > electromagnetic induction > [noun] > induction coil > vibrating blade
trembler1877
buzzer1882
trembler-blade1904
trembler-coil1908
1908 in Westm. Gaz. 6 Feb. 4/2 The ignition is effected by high-tension magneto and accumulator with trembler-coil and self-starting switch.
C2.
trembler-bell n. an electric bell rung by a hammer attached to a trembler; also called trembling bell.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > signalling > audible signalling > ringing of bells as signal > [noun] > electric bell
electric bell1839
trembler-bell1884
1884 in Jrnl. Franklin Inst. (1886) CXXI. Supp. 69 Audible signals are given..on board the locomotive by a trembler bell.
1905 W. H. Preece & J. Sivewright Telegraphy (new ed.) 254 There are many forms of these trembler bells, but the principle in all is alike.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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