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View synonyms for vibrate

vibrate

[ vahy-breyt ]

verb (used without object)

, vi·brat·ed, vi·brat·ing.
  1. to move rhythmically and steadily to and fro, as a pendulum; oscillate.
  2. to move to and fro or up and down quickly and repeatedly; quiver; tremble.
  3. (of sounds) to produce or have a quivering or vibratory effect; resound.

    Synonyms: echo

  4. to thrill, as in emotional response.
  5. to move between alternatives or extremes; fluctuate; vacillate.


verb (used with object)

, vi·brat·ed, vi·brat·ing.
  1. to cause to move rhythmically and steadily to and fro, swing, or oscillate.
  2. to cause to move to and fro or up and down quickly and repeatedly; cause to quiver or tremble.
  3. to give forth or emit by, or as by, vibration.
  4. to measure or indicate by vibration or oscillation:

    a pendulum vibrating seconds.

vibrate

/ vaɪˈbreɪt; ˈvaɪbrəˌtaɪl /

verb

  1. to move or cause to move back and forth rapidly; shake, quiver, or throb
  2. intr to oscillate
  3. to send out (a sound) by vibration; resonate or cause to resonate
  4. intr to waver
  5. physics to undergo or cause to undergo an oscillatory or periodic process, as of an alternating current; oscillate
  6. rare.
    intr to respond emotionally; thrill
“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


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Derived Forms

  • viˈbratingly, adverb
  • vibratile, adjective
  • ˈvibratory, adjective
  • viˈbrating, adjective
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Other Words From

  • vibrat·ing·ly adverb
  • non·vibrat·ing adjective
  • re·vibrate verb revibrated revibrating
  • un·vibrat·ed adjective
  • un·vibrat·ing adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of vibrate1

First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin vibrātus (past participle of vibrāre “to move to and fro”); -ate 1
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Word History and Origins

Origin of vibrate1

C17: from Latin vibrāre
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Synonym Study

See shake.
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Example Sentences

When heated with a laser, each epoxy blob gave off sound waves that rippled through the chip to the sheet, causing the sheet to vibrate.

This toothbrush does it all, combining the effectiveness of a Waterpik flosser and the power of a vibrating brush head.

Another more speculative possibility is that cosmic strings could come from the tiny vibrating strings of string theory.

Sound waves are carried through water by the vibration of water molecules, and at higher temperatures, those molecules vibrate more easily.

Buy nowSmall yet powerful, the softball-size Hypersphere Mini is a TSA-approved, three-speed vibrating massage ball that eases muscle tension on the go or at home.

My gloved fingertips, soaked with blood on his pulseless groin, started to vibrate.

To keep you off your seat and on your feet, many trackers will even vibrate after a certain timeframe of inactivity.

Should a solar flare vibrate the interstellar plasma in the next few years, the tone would be higher still.

Eric Cantor: too twitchy (manly men do not visibly vibrate with nervous energy).

Vibration promotes life and vigour, strength and beauty...Vibrate Your Body and Make It Well.

It has, indeed, one of the most important properties of all substances, in that it can vibrate.

Cannot two brains that vibrate in unison at a distance of many kilometres be moved by the same psychic force?

The struck chord ceased to vibrate as she reached the house where she had suffered and learned so much.

At last a beautiful, sad voice, which Paul well knew, made the hot afternoon air vibrate.

In the green summer of his days he fell, and long did my heart vibrate from the shock.

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