vibration
[vahy-brey-shuh n]
- the act of vibrating.
- the state of being vibrated.
- Physics.
- the oscillating, reciprocating, or other periodic motion of a rigid or elastic body or medium forced from a position or state of equilibrium.
- the analogous motion of the particles of a mass of air or the like, whose state of equilibrium has been disturbed, as in transmitting sound.
- an instance of vibratory motion; oscillation; quiver; tremor.
- a supernatural emanation, bearing good or ill, that is sensed by or revealed to those attuned to the occult.
- Often vibrations. Informal. a general emotional feeling one has from another person or a place, situation, etc.: I usually get good vibrations from him.
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Origin of vibration
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
tremorreverberationoscillationpulsefluctuationvacillationbeatingquiverthrobwaveshimmywaveringquakeshakeresonancepulsationthrobbingtremblingjudderExamples from the Web for vibration
Contemporary Examples
But after the fifth consecutive call—the vibration interrupting my conversation with perplexed hosts—I politely stepped away.
Vibration promotes life and vigour, strength and beauty...Vibrate Your Body and Make It Well.
Some final twitching, a jolt in his chest muscles, a vibration in his hands, and finally it was over.
Historical Examples
The consequence was a vibration of the mica diaphragm to which the stylus was attached.
Heroes of the TelegraphJ. Munro
That utterance sounded like a vibration of the sunlight itself.
Abbe Mouret's TransgressionEmile Zola
But it is like a vibration of great speed and heat, like a fluid and magnetic heat.
The Golden FountainLilian Staveley
The vibration and the deafening noise shook but did not frighten her.
The Eternal CityHall Caine
And there was also a chance that Jeter's vibration idea was wrong.
Lords of the StratosphereArthur J. Burks
vibration
- the act or an instance of vibrating
- physics
- a periodic motion about an equilibrium position, such as the regular displacement of air in the propagation of sound
- a single cycle of such a motion
- the process or state of vibrating or being vibrated
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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
Word Origin and History for vibration
n.
1650s, from Latin vibrationem (nominative vibratio), from vibratus (see vibrate). Meaning "intuitive signal about a person or thing" was popular late 1960s, but has been recorded as far back as 1899.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
vibration
[vī-brā′shən]
- A rapid oscillation of a particle, particles, or elastic solid or surface, back and forth across a central position.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.