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
- nonvibrating adjective
- revibrate verb
- unvibrated adjective
- unvibrating adjective
- vibratile adjective
- vibrating adjective
- vibratingly adverb
- vibratory adjective
Etymology
Origin of vibrate
First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin vibrātus (past participle of vibrāre “to move to and fro”); -ate 1
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.
