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Love wave

American

noun

a surface seismic wave with horizontal movement that runs perpendicular to the direction of propagation.

Love wave Scientific

/ lŭv /

A type of seismic surface wave in which particles move with a side-to-side motion perpendicular to the main propagation of the earthquake. The amplitude of this motion decreases with depth. Love waves cause the rocks they pass through to change in shape. They travel faster than Rayleigh waves. Love waves are named after their discoverer, British mathematician Augustus Love (1863–1940).

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

Love waves

plural

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.