oscillate

• POS: Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: os=cil=late

CIDE DICTIONARY

oscillate, v. i. [L. oscillare to swing, fr. oscillum a swing, a little mask or puppet made to be hung from trees and swing in the wind, prob. orig., a little mouth, a dim. from os mouth. See Oral, and cf. Osculate.].

•  To move backward and forward; to vibrate like a pendulum; to swing; to sway.  [1913 Webster]
•  To vary or fluctuate between fixed limits; to act or move in a fickle or fluctuating manner; to change repeatedly, back and forth.  [1913 Webster]

  "The amount of superior families oscillates rather than changes, that is, it fluctuates within fixed limits."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

oscillate, v.
1 intr. & tr. a swing to and fro like a pendulum. b move to and fro between points.
2 intr. vacillate; vary between extremes of opinion, action, etc.
3 intr. Physics move with periodic regularity.
4 intr. Electr. (of a current) undergo high-frequency alternations as across a spark-gap or in a valve-transmitter circuit.
5 intr. (of a radio receiver) radiate electromagnetic waves owing to faulty operation.

Derivative

oscillation n. oscillator n. oscillatory adj.

Etymology

L oscillare oscillat- swing

THESAURUS

oscillate

alternate, back and fill, be here again, bob, bobble, careen, change, circle, coggle, come again, come and go, come around, come round, come round again, come up again, cycle, dangle, dither, ebb and flow, equivocate, flounder, fluctuate, flutter, go through phases, hem and haw, intermit, librate, lurch, nutate, pendulate, pitch, pulsate, pulse, reappear, recur, reel, reoccur, repeat, resonate, return, revolve, ring the changes, rock, roll, roll around, rotate, seesaw, shake, shift, shilly-shally, shuffle, stagger, swag, sway, swing, teeter, teeter-totter, tergiversate, toss, totter, turn, undulate, vacillate, vary, vibrate, wag, waggle, wave, waver, wax and wane, wheel, wheel around, wobble

ROGET THESAURUS

oscillate

Changeableness

VB fluctuate, vary, waver, flounder, flicker, flitter, flit, flutter, shift, shuffle, shake, totter, tremble, vacillate, wamble, turn and turn about, ring the changes, sway to and fro, shift to and fro, change and change about, waffle, blow with the wind (irresolute), oscillate, vibrate between, two extremes, oscillate between, two extremes, alternate, have as man phases as the moon.

Oscillation

VB oscillate, vibrate, librate, alternate, undulate, wave, rock, swing, pulsate, beat, wag, waggle, nod, bob, courtesy, curtsy, tick, play, wamble, wabble, dangle, swag, fluctuate, dance, curvet, reel, quake, quiver, quaver, shake, flicker, wriggle, roll, toss, pitch, flounder, stagger, totter, move up and down, bob up and down, pass and repass, ebb and flow, come and go, vacillate, teeter, brandish, shake, flourish.