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QUIVERING.
quivering of the lip. 1884 tr. Lotze"s Logic 437 The confused
notion that . . colours [are] merely quiverings of the ether.
Quivering (kwi-varirj \ ///. a.
[ + -ING ^.J
1. That quivers ; tremulous.
a 1547 SURREY j^Enciit II. 224 Holding . . her targe and
quiuering spere. 1631 LITHGOW Trav. VI. 273 A soft paued
lodging for quiuering Goates. 1700 DRYDFN tr. Ovid s
Metam. xiil. 124 Let his quiv'ring Heart confess his Fear.
1735 SOMERVILLE Chase in. 429 The quiv'ring Bog Soft
yielding to the Step. 1820 W. IRVING Sketch Bk. I. 124
The sequestered pool, reflecting the cruivering trees. 1871-4
J. THOMSON City Dreadf. Nt. xvll. ii, The quivering moon*
bridge on the deep black stream.
2. Of the nature of quivering.
1849 NOAD Electricity 42 A wide brush of pale ramifications,
having a quivering motion. 1882 A. W. WARD Dickens
iv. 103 The story of . . experiences to which his own mind
could not recur without a quivering sensitiveness.
Quiveringly (kwi-varirjli), adv. [f. prec. +
-LV 2 .] In a quivering manner ; with a quiver in
the voice.
1808 HELEN ST. VICTOR Ruins of Rigonda III. 164 He
started, then quiveringly exclaimed. 1862 R. H. PATTERSON
l:ss. Hist, ^f Art 365 Pale tremulous rays . . shooting quiveringly
along the sky. 1876 GEO. ELIOT Dan. Der. v.
xxxvn, One of those quivenngly-poised natures that lend
themselves to second-sight. 1894 Temple Bar Mag. CI.
514, '
I did hope '
(quiveringly) '
that you knew me better.'
t adv.
Qui'verly, 06s. [f. QUIVER a. + -LY^.]
Actively, quickly, smartly.
cg6o Rnle St. Benet (Schroer) 122 Donne he wel 5enab&
ures drihtnes heorde cwiferlice gealgaS & to rihte manad.
private ones.
b. //. as sb. Quixotic sentiments.
1896 Spectator 7 Mar. 337 If,. our Quixotics seem foolish
or
extravagant.
HunceQuixo-ticaltf.; Quixo'ticaUyaw'z;.; Quixo-ticism
= QUIXOTISM.
1850 Erasers Mag. XLII. 482 No Quixotical redresser of
wron. 1862 Sat. Rev. XIII. 660/2 A mathematician who
.
-Quixotically endeavoured to cure him. i88a Athenseum
23 Sept. 410/1 The symbol of his noble quixoticism.
Quixotism (kwi-ksjJtiz'm). [f. as prec. + -ISM.]
Quixotic principles, character, or practice an
;
instance of this, a quixotic action or idea.
1688 Pulpit Popery, True Popery 36 All the Herolca
""
Fictions of Ecclesiastical Quixotism. otism. "1723 1723 Briton No. No, 20
(1724) uld appear mere Quixotism
86 His Publick Spirit woultl
il 345 The scorn which inopportune quixotism provoke
So Qui'xotize v. a. intr. t to act in a quixotic
manner ; b. trans., to render quixotic.
1831 Examiner 226/1 The folly to think of quixotlzmg
through all Europe. 1894 Du MAURIER Trilby 99 A thing
to Quixotize a modern French masher !
Quixotry (kwi'ks^tri). Also 8 -ery. [f. as
prec. + -RY.J = QUIXOTISM.
[1718 MOTTEUX Quix. (1733) III. 45 Many.. cry out Give
us more Quixotery.] 1814 SCOTT Drama (1874) 217 An
adventurous spirit of profligate Quixotry. 1873 H. ROGERS
Orig. Bible (1874) 411 We may wait for such an objector
before^ indulging in the equal Quixotry of confuting him,
Quiyke, obs. form of QUICK a.
Quiz (kwiz), sb.l Also 8 quis. [Of obscure
origin : possibly a fanciful coinage, but it is doubtful
whether any reliance can be placed on the
anecdote of its invention by Daly, a Dublin theatre-
manager. Senses 3 and 4 are app. from Quiz ^.1 1.
The anecdote is given by Smart in his Walker Remodelled
1836, but is omitted in the ed. of 1840. The very circumstantial
version in F. T. Porter's Cleanings fy Reminiscences
(1875) 32 gives the date of the alleged invention as
1791 ; but this is later than the actual appearance of the
word and its derivative quizzity.\
1. An odd or eccentric person, in character or
quizzes in the rime of Sir Thopaz the wearisome idleness of
the French romance.
absol. 1815 Sporting Mag. XLV. 161 All were sneering at
Sam, and they quizz'd and theygaz'd. iSTpGREEN^^/.ni.
(1901) 254 What a charming tongue Latin is for quiz/ing in.
1
t2. intr. To play with a quiz (W'. 2). Obs.
a 1800 MOORE in Mem. \. n The ladies too, when in the
streets, . . Went quizzing on, to show their shapes and graceful
mien.
QUIZZINESS.
Quiz (kwiz), v* dial, and U. S. [Prob. a transferred
use of prec., by association with question or
inquisitive..] trans, a. To question, interrogate
(a person) ; U.S. to examine (a student or class)
orally (cf. Quiz j^). Also absol. b. To find out
(a thing) by questioning.
1886 ELWORTHY (K. Som. Wordlik. s.v., Her on't be very
long vore her'll quiz it all out.
1893 FERGUSSON My Village
xi. 99 She would . . gossip and quiz her visitors as to what
was going on in the village.
Quiz (kwiz), z>.3 rare-1 . [Echoic.] intr. To
make a whizzing sound.
1866 Village on Cliff xiii. in Cornhill Mag. Nov. 526
ihere was a sound of grasshoppers quizzing at their feet.
[f. Quiz z/.i + -ABLE.] That
Qurzzable, a.
may be quizzed.
Hence QuizzaW'lity.
'797 The Quiz No. 13. 85 Every body seems to set me down
as a butt made on purpose to be ridiculed,.. as if I had
I his man is quizable ', pasted in large letters on my back.
1849 Blackw. Mag. LXV1. 687 It may be something
satirical, if they see anything quizzable something about
yourself. 1858 CARLVLE Fredk. Gt. v. vii. I. 616 Even
book-men . . are good for something, more especially if rich
mines of quizzability turn-out to be workable in them.
So Qnizza'cions a., given to quizzing. Quizzato-rial
a., of a quizzing character. Quizzee', one
who is quizzed.
1810 BENTHAM Packing d82i) 179 Another epigram, still
more pointed and quizzatorial than the Italian one. 1823
R. P. WARD Tremaine I. xxiv. 184 For quizzing to take
1519 HORMAN Vulg. 279 b, Thou playest featly at the tynis
and very quyuerly. 1637 GILLESPIE Eng. Pop. Cerem. Ep.
Aiv, Whiles ourOpposites so quiverlygoe about. .is it time
for us., to sit still!
So f Qui-verness, activity, etc. Obs.
1338 BALE Thre Laiues 1323 And toke from me cleane
the quyuernesse ofbodye. 1581 J. BELL tfaddon's Ansiu.
Osor. 142 The Goale is not attained by the quyvernes of
the person, nor successe of battell by prowesse.
'
'
II Qui Vive (kz v/"v). lit. [F., (long) live who ?
a sentinel's challenge, intended to discover to which
party the person challenged belongs, and properly requiring
an answer of the form (vive) le rot, la France,
etc.] On the qtti vive, on the alert or look-out.
1726 SWIFT in rope's Wks. (1871) VII. 82 It is imagined
that I must be..alway upon the qitivive and the slip-slop.
1752 FIELDING Amelia Wks. 1775 X. 223 Though he be a
little too much on the giti-vive, he is a man of great honour.
1833 MARRYAT P. Simple lii, This put us all on the q ui vive.
' '
1883 E. P. ROE in Harper's Mag. Dec. 56/1 What now ?
cried Burtis, all on the gui vive.
Quixote (kwi-ks^t), sb. Also 7 -ot, 8 -iot, 9
-otte. [The name of the hero of Cervantes' romance
(see DON sbl = c), Sp. quixote, now written quijote
(kz'xtf'te) a cuisse.] An enthusiastic visionary person
like Don Quixote, inspired by lofty and chivalrous
but false or unrealizable ideals.
1648 Merc. Prog. No. i. A ij, The Romance's and Gazetta's
of the famous Victories and Exploits of the godly Quixots.
11658 CLEVELAND Gen. Poems, etc. (1677) a Thus the
Quixots of this Age fight with the Windmils of their own
heads. 1786-7 BONNYCASTLE Astron. i. 17 There are
Quixotes and pedants in every profession. 1811 JEFFERSON
Writ. (1830) IV. 164 What these Quixottes are clamoring
for. 1896^Spectator 7 Mar. 337/1 Where the more sober
thinker fails, the Quixote is often of service.
Comb. 1800 MRS. HERVEY Monrlray Fain. IV.4I Quixotelike,
going to fight when he had no occasion.
b. attrib. passing into adj. = QUIXOTIC.
1708 OZELL tr. Boileau's Lalrin IV. (1730) 209 A weak
Defence for Quixiot kings. 1757 LADY M. W. MONTAGU
Let. to C'less flute 7 July, The Quixote reputation of redressing
wrongs. 1782 H. WALPOLE Lett, to M. Cole 14 Feb.
(184^6) VI. 160 My diet-drink is not all of so Quixote a disposition.
1810 BENTHAM Packing (1821) 198 Our Quixote
Sheriff.
Hence Qui'xote v. intr. (also with zV),to act like
a Quixote.
1702 VANBRUGH False Friend v. i, When you . . are upon
your rantipole adventures, you shall Quixot it by your self
for Lopez. 1803 JANE PORTER Thaddeus (1826) I. vi. 131,
I will not be the first to tell him of our quixoting.
Quixotic (kwiksjrtik), a. (sh.~) [f. QUIXOTE sl>.]
1. Of : persons Resembling Don Quixote ; hence,
striving with appearance. Now rare.
1782
lofty enthusiasm for visionary ideals.
1815 J. ADAMS Wks. (1856) X. 157, I considered Miranda
as a vagrant, a vagabond, a Quixotic adventurer. 1857
HUGHES Tom Brown i. i,T'his family training., makes them
eminently quixotic. 1896 Spectator ^ Mar. 336 Any one
can exceed, but few can be really Quixotic.
2. Of actions, undertakings, etc. : Characteristic
of, appropriate to, Don Quixote.
1851 GALLENGA Italy 131 A daring that would seem almost
ague and qi
MAD. D'ARBLAY Early Diary 24 June, He's a droll
quiz, and I rather like him. 1785 Span. Rivals 8 Ay, he's
a queer Quis. 1793 in W. Roberts Looker-on No. 54 (1794)
II. 311 Some college cell, Where muzzing quizzes mutter
monkish schemes. 1818 EARL DUDLEY Lett. 14 Feb. (1840)
196 Nor are we by any means such quizzes or such bores as
the wags pretend. 1852 MRS. SMYTHIES Bride Elect xiii,
If she really means to marry that quiz for the sake of his
thousands. 1857 C. BRONTE Professor iii, He was not odd
no quiz.
b. An odd-looking thing, rare ~1 .
1798 JANE AUSTEN Northaug. Abb. (1850) 26 Where did
you get that quiz of a hat?
f2. BANDALORE, q.v. Obs.
c
17^90
in Moore Mem. I. 12 The Duke ,. was, I recollect,
playing with one of those toys called quizzes. 1792 B.
Munckausen (1790)
II. xi. 137 She darted and recoiled the
quizzes in her right and left hand. #1833 MOORE Mem. I.
ii A certain toy very fashionable about the year 1789 or 1790
called in French a *
bandalore '
and in English a *
quiz '.
3. One who quizzes.
1797 The Quiz No. 13. 85 Now, gentlemen,
as you have
taken to yourselves the name of Quizzes, I request to know
[etc.]. 1836 Ibid. No. i. 4/2 A trtie is Quiz imperturbable
: therefore is Talleyrand the Prince of Quizzers.
1870 Q. Rev. July 238 She could write letters to Horace
Walpole (perhaps because she knew him to be a quiz) in a vein
untinctured by narrowness or
pharisaism. 1899 Eng. Hist.
Rev. April 36 Braving the ridicule with which it pleased
the quizzes of the day to asperse the husband chosen for her.
4. A practical joke ; a hoax, a piece of humbug,
banter or ridicule ; a jest or witticism.
i8o7_ Antid. Miseries Hum. Life 121, I was engaged a
few . . nights ago in a good quiz for a watchman. 1810 SCOTT
Fam. Lett. 14 Apr. (1894) I. vi. 171, 1 am impatient to know
if the whole be not one grand blunder or quiz. 1826
Jrnl, n Feb., I should have thought the thing a quiz, but
that the novel was real. 1835 WILLIS Pencillings\\. Ixiv.
189 Whipping in with a quiz or a witticism whenever he
could get an opportunity. 1840 HOOD Up the Rhine no
Frank said he was travelling for Rundell and Bridge, but I
suspect that was only a quiz. 1850 T. A. TROLLOPE Impress.
Wand, vi. 77 We have . . a quiz on all and each of the newlyarisen
tribe ofjournalists. b. The act or practice of quizzing.
1819 QuizzicalGaz. No. 5/1 The Editor, -declares this the
only article in the Paper devoid of Quiz, a 1845 HOOD Tale
Trumpet xxx, You may join the genteelest party that
is, And enjoy all the scandal, and gossip, and quiz. 1870
GREEN Lett. in. (1901) 254 What a taste for quiza Professorship
seems to develop.
Quiz (kwiz), j.2 U.S. [f. Quiz z;.2] An act
of quizzing or questioning; spec, an oral examination
of a student or class by a teacher.
1891 in Cent. Diet. 1895 J. W. BROWN in Proc.
vent. Instruct, Deaf'314 My first lesson should be in the
form of a quiz.
Quiz (kwiz), z>.i
tcf- Q UIZ sb^\ 1. trans. To make sport or fun of (a person or
thing), to turn to ridicule ; occasionally, to regard
with an air of mockery.
1796 Campaigns 1793-4, II. viii. 51 And quiz every blockhead
accounted a boar. 1802 MAR. EDGEWORTH Moral T.
(1816) I. iv. 19 He his
spent
time in . . ridiculing, or, in his
own phrase, quizzing every sensible young man. 1825
C. M. WESTMACOTT English Spy I. 231 Quizzing the little
daughter of Terpsichore through his eye-glass. 1833
MARRYAT P. Simple (1863) 113 Young gentlemen are apt to
quiz; and I think that being quizzed hurts effect, there must be two . . parties, the quizzer and quizzee.
1830 BENTHAM Wks. (1838-43) X. 285, I made a little quizzacious
attack the
upon bishop. 1840 New Monthly Mag.
LVIII. 526 Taking care to make their remarks .. loud
enough to be heard by the quizzees.
Quizzer (kwi-zsi). [f. Quiz
my authority
with the men. 1874 GREEN Short Hist. v. 214 Chaucer . .
z/.i + -EH i.]
1. One who quizzes or is given to quizzing.
1797 The Quiz No. 13. 84 At every corner, I am accosted
by some of these Quizzers. 1810 SCOTT Let. to Ellis in
Lockltart xx, This said Kehama affords cruel openings for
the
cjuizzers. a 1843 HOOD Tale Trumpet xvii, The
mischievous quizzers, Sharp as knives, but double as
scissors. 111876 HT. MARTINEAU Autobiog. (1877) II. 306
My lectures were maliciously misrepresented by a quizzer
here and there.
2. =
QUIZZING-GLASS, rare'1 .
1806 SURR Winter in Loxii. II. 83 'You must have a
'
qnizzer.' What is that ?' said Edward. '
Oh, an eye-glass.'
Quizzery (kwi'zari). [f. Quiz .l + -ERY.] The
practice of quizzing an ; instance of this.
1821 Examiner 348/1 A law.. destructive to mirth and
quizzery. 1825 T. H. LISTER Granby Ivi. (1836) 394 He
began with a little gentle qnizzery of the Ladies Manvers.
i&f i CAROLINE Fox Old Friends (1882) 122 Of Mrs. Carlyle's
quizzeries, he thinks [etc.].
Qui'zziblo, a. and sb. rare. [f. Quiz t>.l + -IBLE.]
a. = adj. QUIZZABLE. b. sb. Something quizzable.
1816 MOORE Let. to Byron 29 Feb., There is so much of
the quizzible in all he writes. 1822 I, WILSON in Blackw.
Mag. XI. 479 On the whole the book wants vigour, and it
is full of quizzibles.
Quizzical (kwi-zikal), a. [f. Quiz sbl and z/.l]
1. Of the nature of a quiz or oddity; causing
amusement; comical.
i8oo MRS. HERVEY t
Mourtray Fattt. II. 47 Nothing but a
little joke of mine, at his quizzical figure. 1812 Sporting
Mag. XL. 263 Whilst they were quizzing others, they.,
made themselves quizzical. 1842 MOTLEY Corr. (1889) I. iv.
joi One of the most quizzical of old-fashioned, towns of
quizzical Germany. 1873 HOLLAND A. Bonnie, xi. 188 With
a quizzical expression of countenance, as if he were puzzled
to know exactly what his feelings were.
Comb. 1834 Taits Mag. I. 440/2 Some quizzical-looking
fellow-countryman in a seedy coat.
2. Given to quizzing ; pertaining to, or characterized
by, quizzing.
1801 Sporting Mag. XVII. 140 One of our quizzical cor.
respondents remarks, that this is the age for producing fat
Hence Quizzica'lity, Qui zzicalness.
1821 New Monthly Mag. I. 574 The ne plus ultra of unbecoming
quizzicality. 1825 Ettgl. Life I. 76 Cornelia
pouring forth her badinage and her quizzicalness. 1831
Fraser's Mag. IV. 85 Somewhat of quizzicality began to be
associated with the phrase.
Quizzically (kwi'zikali), adv. [f. QUIZZICAL +
LY^.] In a quizzical manner.
1849 G BRONTE Shirley xvii, Somewhat quizzically scanquizzically
close. 1878 M. C. JACKSON utaperons