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continuous wave

American  
[kuhn-tin-yoo-uhs weyv] / kənˈtɪn yu əs ˈweɪv /

noun

Telecommunications.

  1. an electromagnetic wave of constant amplitude and frequency: used to carry information by being modulated, as in radio or television, or by being interrupted as in radiotelegraphy. CW

adjective

  1. Also continuous-wave noting a machine or device that functions through a constant and controlled output of waves, as of light from a laser, sound from an ultrasound, or radio energy from radar. CW

Etymology

Origin of continuous wave

First recorded in 1910–15

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.