standing wave

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noun Physics.

a wave in a medium in which each point on the axis of the wave has an associated constant amplitude ranging from zero at the nodes to a maximum at the antinodes.

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Also called stationary wave.

Origin of standing wave

First recorded in 1905–10

Words nearby standing wave

stand in good stead, standing order, standing orders, standing rigging, standing room, standing wave, standish, stand mixer, standoff, stand-off half, standoff insulator

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

How to use standing wave in a sentence

Hmm, who are these people standing in front of the machines at the gym, neither occupying them nor not occupying them?
How to Survive the New Year ‘Gympocalypse’|Tim Teeman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
However, legal issues are only one of the things standing between an ex-prisoner and a job.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside|Justin Rohrlich|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Yet another video catches the sounds of the gunshots and shows Brinsley standing by the parked radio car.
Exclusive: Inside a Cop-Killer’s Final Hours|Michael Daly|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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
It is thinner than that of chronic bronchitis, and upon standing separates into three layers of pus, mucus, and frothy serum.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
She looked so sweet when she said it, standing and smiling there in the middle of the floor, the door-way making a frame for her.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
It separates into three layers upon standing—a brown deposit, a clear fluid, and a frothy layer.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
He returned shortly, to meet his mother standing in the doorway, with pale, affrighted face.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
Ollie saw someone standing before it, bending slightly forward in the pose of expectation.
The Bondboy|George W. (George Washington) Ogden

British Dictionary definitions for standing wave

standing wave

noun

physics the periodic disturbance in a medium resulting from the combination of two waves of equal frequency and intensity travelling in opposite directions. There are generally two kinds of displacement, and the maximum value of the amplitude of one of these occurs at the same points as the minimum value of the amplitude of the other. Thus in the case of electromagnetic radiation the amplitude of the oscillations of the electric field has its greatest value at the points at which the magnetic oscillation is zero, and vice versaAlso called: stationary wave Compare node, antinode

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

Scientific definitions for standing wave

standing wave

[ stăn′dĭng ]

A wave that oscillates in place, without transmitting energy along its extent. Standing waves tend to have stable points, called nodes, where there is no oscillation. Examples of standing waves include the vibration of a violin string and electron orbitals in an atom. Also called stationary wave See also harmonic oscillator.