judder (JUHD-er) - v., to shake intensely or spasmodically. n., a rapid or spasmodic shaking.
Chiefly British usage per the dictionaries, but I've heard it enough in the wild here in the States -- often as "to judder to a stop" -- to note that rather include it in the entry. I associate it, with no good reason, with the motion of machines seizing up. Dates to the early 1930s, and is assumed to be a combination of j(olt) or perhaps j(erk) + (sh)udder, but there's no direct evidence.
---L.
Chiefly British usage per the dictionaries, but I've heard it enough in the wild here in the States -- often as "to judder to a stop" -- to note that rather include it in the entry. I associate it, with no good reason, with the motion of machines seizing up. Dates to the early 1930s, and is assumed to be a combination of j(olt) or perhaps j(erk) + (sh)udder, but there's no direct evidence.
---L.