undulate

[ verb uhn-juh-leyt, uhn-dyuh-, -duh-; adjective uhn-juh-lit, -leyt, uhn-dyuh-, -duh- ]

/ verb ˈʌn dʒəˌleɪt, ˈʌn dyə-, -də-; adjective ˈʌn dʒə lɪt, -ˌleɪt, ˈʌn dyə-, -də- /

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WATCH NOW: What Do "Undulate" And Flag Day Have In Common?

Waves undulate, flags undulate ... and in this video both of those meanings work together to create the perfect image. Watch our favorite Word of the Day illustrator bring the word to life.

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verb (used without object), un·du·lat·ed, un·du·lat·ing.

to move with a sinuous or wavelike motion; display a smooth rising-and-falling or side-to-side alternation of movement: The flag undulates in the breeze.

to have a wavy form or surface; bend with successive curves in alternate directions.

(of a sound) to rise and fall in pitch: the wail of a siren undulating in the distance.

verb (used with object), un·du·lat·ed, un·du·lat·ing.

to cause to move in waves.

to give a wavy form to.

adjective

Also un·du·lat·ed. having a wavelike or rippled form, surface, edge, etc.; wavy.

Words related to undulate

wobble, billow, swell, flow, surge, swing, ripple, wave, heave, roll, oscillate

Words nearby undulate

undro, undset, undue, undulant, undulant fever, undulate, undulating membrane, undulating pulse, undulation, undulatory, undulatory theory

Origin of undulate

1650–60; < Latin undulātus waved, equivalent to und(a) wave + -ul(a) -ule + -ātus -ate¹

OTHER WORDS FROM undulate

un·du·la·tor, nounnon·un·du·late, adjectivenon·un·du·lat·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for undulate

In the Rayonnant phase lines break; in the Flamboyant they undulate.
How France Built Her Cathedrals|Elizabeth Boyle O'Reilly
Thallus orbicular, tender, laciniate and undulate or crisped, papillose-reticulate.
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States|Asa Gray
The pile seemed to move—to undulate; and from it came once more the dry, rattling sound.
Peggy|Laura E. Richards
Mrs. Hearty collapsed into a chair and began to undulate with mirth.
Adventures of Bindle|Herbert George Jenkins

For variety's sake the engineer made it undulate horizontally, like a great serpent flying over the earth.
Fragments from The Journal of a Solitary Man|Nathaniel Hawthorne

British Dictionary definitions for undulate

undulate

/ (ˈʌndjʊˌleɪt) /

verb

to move or cause to move in waves or as if in waves

to have or provide with a wavy form or appearance

adjective (ˈʌndjʊlɪt, -ˌleɪt) undulated

having a wavy or rippled appearance, margin, or forman undulate leaf

Derived forms of undulate

undulator, noun

Word Origin for undulate

C17: from Latin undulātus, from unda a wave

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