oscillation

[ os-uh-ley-shuhn ]

/ ˌɒs əˈleɪ ʃən /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for oscillation on Thesaurus.com

noun

an act or instance of oscillating.

a single swing or movement in one direction of an oscillating body.

fluctuation between beliefs, opinions, conditions, etc.

Physics.

an effect expressible as a quantity that repeatedly and regularly fluctuates above and below some mean value, as the pressure of a sound wave or the voltage of an alternating current.
a single fluctuation between maximum and minimum values in such an effect.

Mathematics.

the difference between the least upper bound and the greatest lower bound of the functional values of a function in a given interval.
Also called saltus. the limit of the oscillation in an interval containing a given point, as the length of the interval approaches zero.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of oscillation

1650–60; <Latin oscillātiōn- (stem of oscillātiō) a swinging, equivalent to oscillāt(us) (see oscillate) + -iōn--ion

Words nearby oscillation

oscillate, oscillating circuit, oscillating engine, oscillating universe, oscillating universe theory, oscillation, oscillator, oscillatory, oscillogram, oscillograph, oscillometer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use oscillation in a sentence

A simple example is sound waves, the synchronized oscillations of molecules of matter.
Contemplating the End of Physics|Robbert Dijkgraaf|November 24, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Klimesch developed the “binary hierarchy brain-body oscillation theory,” which says that consciousness is a function of various levels of resonance both within the brain and between the brain and various other organs, like the heart and stomach.
Are the Brain’s Electromagnetic Fields the Seat of Consciousness? - Facts So Romantic|Tam Hunt|October 27, 2020|Nautilus
The researchers found that slow oscillations could trigger synaptic activity in neurons that were not connected by synapses.
Are the Brain’s Electromagnetic Fields the Seat of Consciousness? - Facts So Romantic|Tam Hunt|October 27, 2020|Nautilus
Two photons, for instance, can be entangled so they always have the opposite polarization, or angle of oscillation.
‘Schrödinger’s Web’ offers a sneak peek at the quantum internet|Dan Garisto|September 28, 2020|Science News

You can think of the problems that need solving as the demand and human skills as the supply, and the two are in constant oscillation, including, every few decades or centuries, a massive shift.
A Human-Centric World of Work: Why It Matters, and How to Build It|Vanessa Bates Ramirez|May 29, 2020|Singularity Hub
One of those observations is BOSS: the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey.
Using Black Holes to Measure Dark Energy, Like a BOSS|Matthew R. Francis|April 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Baryon oscillation is basically sound waves in the early Universe.
Using Black Holes to Measure Dark Energy, Like a BOSS|Matthew R. Francis|April 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The last time we detected a plasma oscillation was nine years ago.
Voyager Is Sending Us the Sounds of Interstellar Space|Josh Dzieza|September 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Seeing the luggage piled “Olympus high,” so as to occasion an alarming oscillation.
The Portsmouth Road and Its Tributaries|Charles G. Harper
The oscillation without raised and depressed the level of the waters within, with the regularity of respiration.
Toilers of the Sea|Victor Hugo
Thus there is a perpetual oscillation in spiritual truths, and in spiritual doctrines of any significance, even when not truths.
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive|John Stuart Mill
He went off into a happy mist of quantum mechanics, oscillation theory, and periodic functions of a complex variable.
Security|Poul William Anderson
The brake is watched carefully, lest irregularity of lubrication should cause oscillation of speed with the changing resistance.
A History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine|Robert H. Thurston

British Dictionary definitions for oscillation

oscillation

/ (ˌɒsɪˈleɪʃən) /

noun

physics statistics

regular fluctuation in value, position, or state about a mean value, such as the variation in an alternating current or the regular swinging of a pendulum
a single cycle of such a fluctuation

the act or process of oscillating

Derived forms of oscillation

oscillatory (ˈɒsɪlətərɪ, -trɪ), adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012