to send shivers down someone's spine
1
6.0
- idiom
- Informal
:
hacer temblar
- Kieran's relationship with the uther was not a close one; however, there were times when the uther's ideas sent shivers down his spine.
Examples
-
When she told the ghost story, it sent shivers down my spine.
-
Why, it's almost enough to send shivers down your spine, brothers and sisters, hearing such lovely music.
-
That sends shivers down my spine!
-
The sound carried a brutal finality that sent shivers down Trey's spine.
Fiction book (1997) -
George Martin (from Q Magazine, July 2007): "John's voice - which he hated - was the kind of thing that would send shivers down your spine."
Blog text (11) -
The eerie silence of the abandoned house sent shivers down my spine.
-
Watching the horror movie alone at night always sends shivers down my spine.
Synonyms
148
3.2
To make someone feel very frightened
131
3.7
To make someone feel a strong emotion
97
4.8
To suddenly frighten a person or animal so they panic
90
4.3
Make someone feel very shocked, afraid, or disgusted
56
6.7
To make someone very afraid
23
2.6
To shiver with sudden excitement or fear
12
5.8
To cause a sudden feeling of fear or strong excitement that makes someone shiver
5
8.8
To make someone very afraid
5
9.0
To frighten someone very much by a sudden event or loud noise
3
8.1
Feel sudden, strong fear or shock
3
6.3
To make someone feel very cold or deeply frightened
3
5.6
To make someone very afraid
1
5.9
Make someone feel a sudden strong fear or excitement
1
6.0
To make someone feel very excited, often suddenly
Cause a strong fear or surprise that gives you goosebumps
To make someone feel strong excitement or deep emotion
Antonyms
How Scary
7
4.8
148
3.2
- Informal
1
6.0
97
4.8
7
4.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
send + shiver + down + someone's + spine
The phrase evokes a clear bodily image—causing literal 'shivers' along the 'spine'—so a learner who knows 'send,' 'shiver,' 'down,' and 'spine' can infer it means causing a sudden intense physical reaction of fear or excitement. This bodily-metaphor mapping is cross-linguistically common, making the idiomatic sense readily comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Send shivers down someone's spine probably comes from the real feeling when a quick chill or small tremble runs along your back, with shivers moving down your spine. So it now means 'to cause a sudden strong feeling of fear, excitement, or thrill'.