librate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to oscillate or move from side to side or between two points.
-
to remain poised or balanced.
verb
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to oscillate or waver
-
to hover or be balanced
Other Word Forms
- libratory adjective
Etymology
Origin of librate
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin lībrātus, past participle of lībrāre “to balance, make level, bring to equilibrium”; Libra, -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As a consequence, while Enceladus moves through its slightly elliptical orbit, Saturn's gravitational field rocks the moon back and forth - or 'librates' it by tiny amounts.
From Scientific American
Cause of librations.—That the moon should librate is by no means so remarkable a fact as that it should at all times turn very nearly the same face toward the earth.
From Project Gutenberg
At this period the balance of tropic and pole librates, and the vast atmospheric tides pour their flood upon one hemisphere and their ebb upon another.
From Project Gutenberg
He proceeded to see if by making the planet librate, or the plane of its orbit tilt up and down, anything could be done.
From Project Gutenberg
Whence the objects appear to librate or circulate according to the motions of our heads, which is called dizziness; and we lose the means of balancing ourselves, or preserving our perpendicularity, by vision.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
