vibrate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to move rhythmically and steadily to and fro, as a pendulum; oscillate.
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to move to and fro or up and down quickly and repeatedly; quiver; tremble.
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(of sounds) to produce or have a quivering or vibratory effect; resound.
- Synonyms:
- echo
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to thrill, as in emotional response.
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to move between alternatives or extremes; fluctuate; vacillate.
verb (used with object)
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to cause to move rhythmically and steadily to and fro, swing, or oscillate.
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to cause to move to and fro or up and down quickly and repeatedly; cause to quiver or tremble.
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to give forth or emit by, or as by, vibration.
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to measure or indicate by vibration or oscillation.
a pendulum vibrating seconds.
verb
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to move or cause to move back and forth rapidly; shake, quiver, or throb
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(intr) to oscillate
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to send out (a sound) by vibration; resonate or cause to resonate
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(intr) to waver
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physics to undergo or cause to undergo an oscillatory or periodic process, as of an alternating current; oscillate
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rare (intr) to respond emotionally; thrill
Related Words
See shake.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vibrate
First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin vibrātus (past participle of vibrāre “to move to and fro”); see -ate 1
Explanation
When you feel something vibrate, it trembles and shakes. A mild earthquake, for example, might make your chandelier vibrate. A hummingbird's wings vibrate, and so does an electric toothbrush. That extremely rapid back-and-forth movement is what happens when something vibrates. Something can also vibrate in a more musical, resonant way — the sound of an organ might vibrate through a church, for example. The root is the Latin word vibratus, which means "move quickly to and fro or shake."
Vocabulary lists containing vibrate
The Circuit
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Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key
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Messenger
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Cathy and Heathcliff's passions vibrate through their dress, their surroundings, and everything else within reach, and you leave the cinema quivering on their own private frequency."
From BBC • Feb. 10, 2026
In PAT, tissue molecules that absorb light vibrate after being hit by short laser pulses, producing acoustic signals that can be measured and converted into detailed images.
From Science Daily • Feb. 6, 2026
Rare earths are likewise found in every smartphone, enhancing screen performance and enabling the phone to vibrate.
From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026
Usually, the motion of these pulses is such that they either spin in circles, like a spinning top, or they vibrate, shaking continuously from side to side in straight lines.
From Space Scoop • Aug. 11, 2025
The floor began to vibrate as the engine roared into life.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
