vibration

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: vi=bra=tion

CIDE DICTIONARY

vibration, n. [L. vibratio: cf. F. vibration.].

•  The act of vibrating, or the state of being vibrated, or in vibratory motion; quick motion to and fro; oscillation, as of a pendulum or musical string.  [1913 Webster]

  "As a harper lays his open palm
  Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations."  [1913 Webster]
•  A limited reciprocating motion of a particle of an elastic body or medium in alternately opposite directions from its position of equilibrium, when that equilibrium has been disturbed, as when a stretched cord or other body produces musical notes, or particles of air transmit sounds to the ear. The path of the particle may be in a straight line, in a circular arc, or in any curve whatever.  [1913 Webster]

  " Vibration and oscillation are both used, in mechanics, of the swinging, or rising and falling, motion of a suspended or balanced body; the latter term more appropriately, as signifying such motion produced by gravity, and of any degree of slowness, while the former applies especially to the quick, short motion to and fro which results from elasticity, or the action of molecular forces among the particles of a body when disturbed from their position of rest, as in a spring."  [1913 Webster]

Amplitude of vibration, the maximum displacement of a vibrating particle or body from its position of rest. -- Phase of vibration, any part of the path described by a particle or body in making a complete vibration, in distinction from other parts, as while moving from one extreme to the other, or on one side of the line of rest, in distinction from the opposite. Two particles are said to be in the same phase when they are moving in the same direction and with the same velocity, or in corresponding parts of their paths.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

vibration, n.
1 the act or an instance of vibrating; oscillation.
2 Physics (esp. rapid) motion to and fro esp. of the parts of a fluid or an elastic solid whose equilibrium has been disturbed or of an electromagnetic wave.
3 (in pl.) a a mental (esp. occult) influence. b a characteristic atmosphere or feeling in a place, regarded as communicable to people present in it.

Derivative

vibrational adj.

Etymology

L vibratio (as VIBRATE)

THESAURUS

vibration

ague, bumpiness, caring, ceaselessness, chattering, chord, chorea, cold shivers, concern, constancy, constant flow, continualness, continuity, echo, empathy, fellow feeling, fits and starts, fluctuation, frequency, frequency band, frequency spectrum, harmonic motion, identification, incessancy, involvement, jactation, jactitation, jerkiness, joltiness, libration, noninterruption, nutation, oscillation, palsy, pathos, pendulation, periodicity, perpetuity, pulsation, quaking, quavering, quick fire, quivering, rapid fire, rapid recurrence, rapid succession, rapidity, regularity, relating, repetition, resonance, resonance frequency, response, responsiveness, shakes, shaking, sharing, shivering, shivers, shuddering, spasms, staccato, steadiness, stuttering, succussion, sustainment, sympathetic chord, sympathetic response, sympathy, tattoo, trembling, tremulousness, unintermission, uninterruption, vacillation, vibes, vibrancy, vibratility, vibrations, wavering

ROGET THESAURUS

vibration

Oscillation

N oscillation, vibration, libration, motion of a pendulum, nutation, undulation, pulsation, pulse, alternation, coming and going, ebb and flow, flux and reflux, ups and down, fluctuation, vacillation, wave, vibratiuncle, swing, beat, shake, wag, seesaw, dance, lurch, dodge, logan, loggan, rocking-stone, vibroscope, oscillating, oscillatory, undulatory, pulsatory, libratory, rectilinear, vibratory, vibratile, pendulous, to and fro, up and down, backwards and forwards, hither and yon, seesaw, zigzag, wibble-wabble, in and out, from side to side, like buckets in a well.