Fluctuate

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Fluctuate \Fluc"tu*ate\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Fluctuated}; p.
     pr. & vb. n. {Fluctuating}.] [L. fluctuatus, p. p. of
     fluctuare, to wave, fr. fluctus wave, fr. fluere, fluctum, to
     flow. See {Fluent}, and cf. {Flotilla}.]
     1. To move as a wave; to roll hither and thither; to wave; to
        float backward and forward, as on waves; as, a fluctuating


        field of air. --Blackmore.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To move now in one direction and now in another; to be
        wavering or unsteady; to be irresolute or undetermined; to
        vacillate.
  
     Syn: To waver; vacillate; hesitate; scruple.
  
     Usage: To {Fluctuate}, {Vacillate}, {Waver}. -- Fluctuate is
            applied both to things and persons and denotes that
            they move as they are acted upon. The stocks
            fluctuate; a man fluctuates between conflicting
            influences. Vacillate and waver are applied to persons
            to represent them as acting themselves. A man
            vacillates when he goes backward and forward in his
            opinions and purposes, without any fixity of mind or
            principles. A man wavers when he shrinks back or
            hesitates at the approach of difficulty or danger. One
            who is fluctuating in his feelings is usually
            vacillating in resolve, and wavering in execution.
            [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Fluctuate \Fluc"tu*ate\, v. t.
     To cause to move as a wave; to put in motion. [R.]
     [1913 Webster]
  
           And fluctuate all the still perfume.     --Tennyson.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  fluctuate
       v 1: cause to fluctuate or move in a wave-like pattern
       2: move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern;
          "the line on the monitor vacillated" [syn: {vacillate}, {waver}]
       3: be unstable; have ups and downs; "The stock market
          fluctuates"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  55 Moby Thesaurus words for "fluctuate":
     alternate, back and fill, bob, bobble, careen, change,
     chop and change, coggle, dangle, dither, ebb and flow, equivocate,
     flounder, flutter, go through phases, intermit, lack regularity,
     librate, lurch, nutate, oscillate, pendulate, pitch, recur, reel,
     resonate, return, reverse, ring the changes, rock, roll, seesaw,
     shake, shift, shilly-shally, shuffle, stagger, swag, sway, swing,
     teeter, teeter-totter, tergiversate, toss, totter, turn, vacillate,
     vary, vibrate, wag, waggle, wave, waver, wax and wane, wobble