flicker 'move back and forth very rapidly' flitter 'move back and forth very rapidly' shake 'move back and forth or sideways' quiver 'move back and forth very rapidly' rock 'move back and forth or sideways' bob 'move up and down repeatedly' waver 'move back and forth very rapidly' sway 'move back and forth or sideways' swag 'sway heavily or unsteadily' flutter 'move back and forth very rapidly'
quiver 'COD: shake or tremble with a slight rapid motion' flop 'COD: fall, hang, or collapse in a heavy, loose, and ungainly way' rotate 'FN: move in a circle around a fixed axis' vibrate 'COD: move with small movements rapidly to and fro.' shake 'FN: vibrate or tremble' judder 'COD: shake and vibrate rapidly and forcefully. ' rock 'COD: move gently from side to side' swing 'FN: to move back and forth or from side to side while or as if suspended.' turn 'FN: rotate' twirl 'FN: spin around' roll 'COD: move by turning over and over on an axis' wave 'COD: move to and fro with a swaying motion while remaining fixed to one point'
the tall building swayed She rocked back and forth on her feet the ship was rocking her rucksack bobbed gently on her back the candle flickered
Examples from VerbNet
The patriots waved the flag. There fluttered a flag over the fort. Over the fort fluttered a flag. A flag fluttered over the fort. A flag fluttered.
Examples from SemCor
Gavin sank down again into his chair and began to rock. She sat_down at the table, shaking her head. Adam shook his head. He might not have gone_that_far if Pa had been locked in laughing fit to shake the house. It swayed with the wicker swings and screeched with the rusted hinges of screen_doors. During the five-month lull, civil_war smoldered and flickered throughout the Congo. Calloused fingers, caressed only by the smoothness of polished rosaries, had swayed excitedly beneath chins where tiny black hairs sprouted, never to be tweezed away. The six ton Conestoga began to whip and shake. He rocked back in the chair, knee locked against stomach, his beady eyes fixed on Matson. She hesitated, she hopped, she roll and rocked, skipped and jumped, but in some two_weeks she started to pace, From_that time to this she has shown steady improvement and now looks_like one of the classiest things on the grounds. I bobbed my head each time it appeared. He shook his head. Garth 's glance began to flicker to his watch. He was thinking_of Rittenhouse and_how he had left him there, to rock to death on the porch of the Splendide. In the early 1950 's, Smith, together with his distinguished colleague, George_Trager( so austerely academic he sometimes fights his own evident charm), and a third man with the engaging name of Birdwhistell( Ray), agreed on some basic premises about the three-part process that makes communication:( 1) words or language( 2) paralanguage, a set of phenomena including laughing, weeping, voice breaks, and`` tone'' of voice, and( 3) kinesics, the technical name for gestures, facial_expressions, and body shifts- nodding or shaking the head,`` talking'' with one 's hands, et cetera. Wires whined as a cold November blast rocked the silver wings, but the engine roar was reassuring to the pilot bundled in_the_open cockpit. Signora_Ferraro, bobbing her head encouragingly, asked Sam about Canada, having a special interest. Killpath leaned forward again, rocked comfortably with his arms still wrapped around one knee.