continuous wave

[ kuhn-tin-yoo-uhs weyv ]

/ kənˈtɪn yu əs ˈweɪv /

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noun Telecommunications.

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. Abbreviation: CW

adjective

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. Abbreviation: CW

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Origin of continuous wave

First recorded in 1910–15

Words nearby continuous wave

continuous miner, continuous processing, continuous spectrum, continuous stationery, continuous variation, continuous wave, continuous waves, continuous welded rail, continuum, continuum hypothesis, conto

How to use continuous wave in a sentence

Thus it attracted a wave of cowboy operators to fly passengers and cargo between cities.
Who Will Get AsiaAir 8501’s Black Boxes?|Clive Irving|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There have been previous waves of people moving to Texas, and we are now experiencing the latest wave.
Will Texas Stay Texan?|David Fontana|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The army has since conducted a brutal wave of jailings against activists and journalists.
Behind Bars for the Holidays: 11 Political Prisoners We Want to See Free In 2015|Movements.Org|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We prefer to wave away the warning signs; like The Interview, Mulholland Drive was comfortably downplayed as over-the-top satire.
Pyongyang Shuffle: Hollywood In Dead Panic Over Sony Hack|James Poulos|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST

What are your feelings about the wave of support that always immediately presents itself from the other side?
The Unbearable Whiteness of Protesting|Rawiya Kameir, Judnick Mayard|December 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But to wave this discourse of Heathens, how many self-contradicting principles are there held among Christians?
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner (1801)|Daniel Defoe
The wave-like movement of these animals is particularly graceful and cleverly done.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
While you were admiring the long roll of the wave, a sudden spray would be dashed over you, and make you catch your breath!
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
"Yes," said Punch, lifted up in his father's arms to wave good-bye.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling
"I've brought ye thet Injun I wuz tellin' ye uv," she said, with a wave of her hand toward Alessandro.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson