Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act of vibrating.
  • noun The condition of being vibrated.
  • noun A rapid linear motion of a particle or of an elastic solid about an equilibrium position.
  • noun A periodic process.
  • noun A single complete vibrating motion; a quiver.
  • noun Informal A distinctive emotional quality or atmosphere that is sensed or experienced by someone. Often used in the plural.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of vibrating; a movement to and fro; oscillation; hence, fluctuation in general: as, avibration of opinion.
  • noun In physics, an oscillating, reciprocating, or any kind of stationary motion made by a body, as a pendulum, musical cord, elastic plate, or mass of air, when forced from the position, figure, or volume of equilibrium, under the influence of forces of restitution.
  • noun In medicine, same as fremitus.
  • noun In natural history, movement to and fro, especially when quick, continuous, regular, and of little amplitude; a quivering or shivering motion; tremulousness; tremor: as, the vibration of aspen-leaves on their compressed petioles in the breeze; the vibration of the ear-drum under sound-waves; the vibration of a fly's wings in flight.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun 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.
  • noun (Physics) 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.
  • noun the maximum displacement of a vibrating particle or body from its position of rest.
  • noun 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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The act of vibrating or the condition of being vibrated
  • noun physics Any periodic process, especially a rapid linear motion of a body about an equilibrium position
  • noun A single complete vibrating motion
  • noun slang An instinctively sensed emotional aura or atmosphere; vibes

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the act of vibrating
  • noun (physics) a regular periodic variation in value about a mean
  • noun a distinctive emotional aura experienced instinctively
  • noun a shaky motion

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French vibration, from Latin vibrātiō ("a shaking or brandishing"), from vibrō ("shake, vibrate"); see vibrate.

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Examples

  • This gives me a name vibration of 6, which means that I should, according to Balliett, “always be dressed with care and precision; be fond of dainty effects and colors, lifting your especial colors of orange, scarlet and heliotrope into their lighter shades, yet always keeping their true tones.”

    HERE’S LOOKING AT EUCLID Alex Bellos 2010

  • This gives me a name vibration of 6, which means that I should, according to Balliett, “always be dressed with care and precision; be fond of dainty effects and colors, lifting your especial colors of orange, scarlet and heliotrope into their lighter shades, yet always keeping their true tones.”

    HERE’S LOOKING AT EUCLID Alex Bellos 2010

  • This gives me a name vibration of 6, which means that I should, according to Balliett, “always be dressed with care and precision; be fond of dainty effects and colors, lifting your especial colors of orange, scarlet and heliotrope into their lighter shades, yet always keeping their true tones.”

    HERE’S LOOKING AT EUCLID Alex Bellos 2010

  • What's the difference in vibration, and lots of other things?

    Another Ares 1-X Launch Delay - NASA Watch 2009

  • The part that seldom gets mentioned about Building 7 is the shock and vibration from the collapse of the main towers.

    Think Progress » Texas Tea Party candidate: ‘There are some very good arguments’ that government was involved in 9/11. 2010

  • The beads combined with vibration from the blade works really well.

    Favorite Lures of the Trout Guides 2009

  • The vibration is just as distracting as the ringtone.

    Where the Wild Things Are: Kids eat it up, they love it so. | EW.com 2009

  • Timbre, the remaining component of a tone, is the total "feel" of the sound, arising not only from the main vibration that determines pitch, but from all the secondary vibrations set up in the instrument producing the sound.

    The science of what I'm busy with right now: music ewillett 2008

  • "Modifications to correct a potentially deadly vibration from the solid-fuel first-stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle could range from tweaking the geometry of the propellant inside the rocket motor to unlocking seat shock absorbers in the Orion capsule so they protect astronauts on launch as well as landing."

    NASA Watch: January 2008 Archives 2008

  • "Modifications to correct a potentially deadly vibration from the solid-fuel first-stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle could range from tweaking the geometry of the propellant inside the rocket motor to unlocking seat shock absorbers in the Orion capsule so they protect astronauts on launch as well as landing."

    Ares 1 Problems - NASA Watch 2008

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