shake: can apply to any such movement, often with a suggestion of roughness and irregularity:he ~ with fear.


tremble: applies specifically to a slight, rapid shaking: her body ~ing with fear.


quake: may be used in place of tremble but it commonly carries a stronger implication of violent shaking or of extreme agitation either from an internal convulsion such as an earthquake, or from an external event that rocks a person or thing to its foundation: a stern lecture that made them ~. (rock把人震倒到地，还表示摇滚)


totter: usually suggests great physical weakness such as that associated with infancy, old age, or disease and often connotes a shaking that makes movement extremely difficult and uncertain and that forebodes a fall or collapse: the mast ~ed before it fell.  (fall人倒,collapse建筑物倒)  (forebode预示==predict, 如black clouds forebode a storm乌云预示有暴风雨)



quiver: may suggest a slight, very rapid shaking: aspen leaves ~ in the slightest breeze; OR it may suggest fear or passion and an implication of emotional tension: the little boy's lips ~ed as he tried not to cry.


shiver: typically suggests the effect of cold that produces a momentary quivering: came into the house snow-covered and ~ing, BUT it may apply to aquivering that results from an anticipation, a premonition, a foreboding, or a vague fear: ~ed at the sight of the ancient gravestone. (premonition预感, had a premoniton that he would die预感自己要死，foreboding害怕=fear, the dark street filled me with forebodings黑暗街道让我害怕)


shudder: usually suggests a brief and temporary shaking that affects the entire body or mass and is the result of something horrible or revolting: ~ed uncontrollably at the eerie shrieks. 尖叫，怪物史瑞克      (revolting反感恶心=disgusting,如the smell in the cell was revolting牢房的气味令人作呕)


quaver: sometimes implies irregular vibration and fluctuation, especially as an effect of something that disturbs: the ~ing flame of thecandle; BUT often stresses tremulousness especially in reference to voice affected by weakness or emotion: made her plea with a voice ~ing withfear.


wobble: implies an unsteadiness that shows itself in tottering or in a quavering characteristic of a mass of soft flesh or soft jelly, or in a shakiness characteristic of rickety furniture: his table~s.  (rickety摇摇晃晃的,佝偻病的,如a rickety old bridge摇摇欲坠的古桥)


teeter: implies an unsteadiness that reveals itself in seesawing motions: an inebriated man ~ing as hestands.   (inebriated酒喝得兴奋胡吵乱唱, the inebriated revelers bellowed out songs喝醉酒的人吼唱着)


shimmy: suggests the fairly violent shaking of the body from the shoulders down which is characteristic of the dance of that name and, therefore, may suggest vibrating motion of an abnormal nature: the ~ing of unbalanced front wheels of an automobile.


dither: implies a shaking or a hesitant vacillating movement often as a result of nervousness, confusion, or lack of purpose: ~ed incoherently.


这组词都是颤抖，shake: 泛指颤抖，一般表示动作粗糙不规则，tremble:专指轻微快速的颤抖，quake震动: 剧烈极端，如地震或类似能把人震倒的，totter摇摇欲坠: 表示很虚弱，预示将要倒塌，quiver: 也表示动作轻微快速，或表示情绪紧张(emotional tension)，shiver: 通常表示寒冷，但也指害怕，shudder浑身发抖: 影响到整个身体一般时间不长，如突然看到想到恐怖反感的东西，quaver:不规则颤抖，表示受到干扰(如例句的烛火)，但常形容嗓音虚弱激动，wobble也是摇摇欲坠:  用totter解释意思一样，像摇摇晃晃的家具(rickey furinture)，teeter摇晃: 站立不稳左摇右晃，象跷跷板一样，shimmy: 不正常的抖动(多形容车轮)或希米舞(抖动肩膀腰臀的爵士舞)，dither犹豫摇摆不定: 形容思维紧张困惑找不到目标。


记忆方法：1）首字母STQTQSSQWTSD里有3组QST和SWD，QST想成Qu Shang Tiktok去上抖音，SWD想成上我的<==颤抖的特效


         2）颤抖的意思是摆动晃动或震荡，常表示不稳定mean to exhibit vibrating, wavering, or oscillating movement often as an evidence of instability. (waver晃动: 站不稳好像要倒his whole body wavered as he crossed the finish line他跑过终点时全身晃动，oscillate震荡: 快速的在相反方向上来回改变a fan that oscillates will cool more effectively带震荡的风扇降热效果更好，vibrate振动: 有弹性elastic物体的震荡，如琴弦the vibrating strings of a piano钢琴振动的琴弦)