vibration

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Related to vibration: Mechanical vibration

vi·bra·tion

(vī-brā′shən)

a. The act of vibrating.

b. The condition of being vibrated.

2. Physics

a. A rapid linear motion of a particle or of an elastic solid about an equilibrium position.

b. A periodic process.

3. A single complete vibrating motion; a quiver.

4. Informal A distinctive emotional quality or atmosphere that is sensed or experienced by someone. Often used in the plural: "Miami gives off the same vibrations, the same portent of disaster, but with a difference" (James Atlas).

vi·bra′tion·al adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

vibration

(vaɪˈbreɪʃən)

1. the act or an instance of vibrating

2. (General Physics) physics

a. a periodic motion about an equilibrium position, such as the regular displacement of air in the propagation of sound

b. a single cycle of such a motion

3. the process or state of vibrating or being vibrated

viˈbrational adj

viˈbrationless adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

vi•bra•tion

(vaɪˈbreɪ ʃən)

n.

1. the act of vibrating or the state of being vibrated.

2. Physics.

a. the oscillating, reciprocating, or other periodic motion of a rigid or elastic body or medium forced from a position or state of equilibrium.

b. 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.

3. an instance of vibratory motion; oscillation; quiver.

4. a supernatural emanation that is sensed by or revealed to those attuned to the occult.

5. vibrations, Informal. general emotional feelings one has from another person or a place, situation, etc.

[1645–55; < Latin]

vi•bra′tion•al, adj.

vi·bra·tion

(vī-brā′shən)

A rapid motion of a particle or an elastic solid back and forth in a straight line on both sides of a central position. Vibrations consist of many oscillations. Compare oscillation. See Note at sound¹.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Vibration

See Also: TREMBLING

Body jerking like a fish —David Mamet, dialogue from “Hill Street Blues” television show, broadcast January 13, 1987
(Light … came at him) throbbing like a drum —Mark Helprin
Jerking like a decked shark —Denis Johnson
A little ripple (went through her) like the commmotion set up in a weeping willow by a puff of wind —O. Henry
Oscillate like a blancmange in an earthquake —John Wainwright
(Thoughts) rattle about … like dried seeds in a pod —Ellen Glasgow
Rattle about [a large apartment] like dried peas in a pod —Janet Hobhouse
Rattled like a dicer’s cup —Davis Grubb
(The King’s heart) rattled like spook chains in a horror show —Tom Robbins
Rattling like a crockery shop in an earthquake —Arthur Baer
[A cough] shook me like a coconut tree in a tornado —Dominique Lapierre
Throbbing like a heart —Marguerite Yourcenar
Throb like the heart of a coffee drinker —O. Henry
Vibrating like a dog’s tail —Norman Mailer
Vibrating … like a man with a high fever —Anon

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	vibration - the act of vibrating quivering, quiver movement, motility, motion, move - a change of position that does not entail a change of location; "the reflex motion of his eyebrows revealed his surprise"; "movement is a sign of life"; "an impatient move of his hand"; "gastrointestinal motility" tremor, shudder - an involuntary vibration (as if from illness or fear)
	2.	vibration - a shaky motion; "the shaking of his fingers as he lit his pipe" quivering, shakiness, trembling, shaking, palpitation, quiver motion - a state of change; "they were in a state of steady motion" tremolo - (music) a tremulous effect produced by rapid repetition of a single tone or rapid alternation of two tones tremor - shaking or trembling (usually resulting from weakness or stress or disease)
	3.	vibration - (physics) a regular periodic variation in value about a mean oscillation natural philosophy, physics - the science of matter and energy and their interactions; "his favorite subject was physics" ripple - (electronics) an oscillation of small amplitude imposed on top of a steady value undulation, wave - (physics) a movement up and down or back and forth transient - (physics) a short-lived oscillation in a system caused by a sudden change of voltage or current or load beat - a single pulsation of an oscillation produced by adding two waves of different frequencies; has a frequency equal to the difference between the two oscillations resonance - a vibration of large amplitude produced by a relatively small vibration near the same frequency of vibration as the natural frequency of the resonating system sympathetic vibration - (physics) vibration produced by resonance
	4.	vibration - a distinctive emotional aura experienced instinctively; "that place gave me bad vibrations"; "it gave me a nostalgic vibe" vibe air, aura, atmosphere - a distinctive but intangible quality surrounding a person or thing; "an air of mystery"; "the house had a neglected air"; "an atmosphere of defeat pervaded the candidate's headquarters"; "the place had an aura of romance"

vibration

noun

1. shaking, shake, trembling, quake, quaking, shudder, shuddering, quiver, oscillation, judder (informal) The vibration dislodged the pins from the plane's rudder.

2. throbbing, pulse, thumping, hum, humming, throb, resonance, tremor, drone, droning, reverberation, pulsation They heard a distant low vibration in the distance.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

إرْتِجاج

vibrace

vibration

Vibration

κραδασμός

vibration frisson

titringur, skjálfti

vibrazione

vibrering

vibrácia

titreme

振动

vibration

[vaɪˈbreɪʃən] N

1. (= movement) → vibración f

2. vibrations → vibraciones fpl

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

vibration

[vaɪˈbreɪʃ^ən] n → vibration f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

vibration

(of string, sound waves) → Schwingung f; (of machine) → Vibrieren nt; (of voice, ground) → Beben nt; (of body) → Zittern nt, → Beben nt

(inf, usu pl) = vibes b

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

vibration

[vaɪˈbreɪʃ/ən] n → vibrazione f

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

vibrate

(vaiˈbreit) , ((American) ˈvaibreit) verb

to (cause to) shake, tremble, or move rapidly back and forth. Every sound that we hear is making part of our ear vibrate; The engine has stopped vibrating.

viˈbration ((British and American) -ˈbrei-) noun

(an) act of vibrating. This building is badly affected by the vibration of all the heavy traffic that passes.

vi·bra·tion

n. vibración, oscilación.

vibration

n vibración f

References in classic literature ?

There lay the fixed threads of the warp subject to but one single, ever returning, unchanging vibration, and that vibration merely enough to admit of the crosswise interblending of other threads with its own.

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He brought Bell to his house and showed him what Helmholtz had done--how he had kept tuning-forks in vibration by the power of electro-magnets, and blended the tones of several tuning-forks together to produce the complex quality of the human voice.

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Perhaps there was something in that sound more than the mere fact of the strong vibration that produced the instantaneous effect on the frame of the prostrate man, and for the time completely shook off the obstruction of paralysis.

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But it might have been long; for I knew there were demons who took note of my swoon, and who could have arrested the vibration at pleasure.

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The resonant, laughing voices of these gorgeous maidens scared away the multitude of humming-birds, whose delicate wings wreathed with the mist of their vibration the tops of flowering bushes.

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To the beekeeper's tap on the wall of the sick hive, instead of the former instant unanimous humming of tens of thousands of bees with their abdomens threateningly compressed, and producing by the rapid vibration of their wings an aerial living sound, the only reply is a disconnected buzzing from different parts of the deserted hive.

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The effect of the vibration on the hard primary slate, which composes the foundation of the island, was still more curious: the superficial parts of some narrow ridges were as completely shivered as if they had been blasted by gunpowder.

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"Well, we could hear the vibration like anything, coming from over the marsh there.

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At nine o'clock they heard the bell and the faint vibration of a carriage over the mud.

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In the days when the aether was less in doubt, we should have said that what was happening was a certain kind of transverse vibration in the aether.

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At this instant, while Daggoo, on the summit of the head, was clearing the whip --which had somehow got foul of the great cutting tackles --a sharp cracking noise was heard; and to the unspeakable horror of all, one of the two enormous hooks suspending the head tore out, and with a vast vibration the enormous mass sideways swung, till the drunk ship reeled and shook as if smitten by an iceberg.

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It is impossible to read the history of the petty republics of Greece and Italy without feeling sensations of horror and disgust at the distractions with which they were continually agitated, and at the rapid succession of revolutions by which they were kept in a state of perpetual vibration between the extremes of tyranny and anarchy.