Modulate

4 definitions found

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

  Modulate \Mod"u*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Modulated}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Modulating}.] [L. modulatus, p. p. of modulari to
     measure, to modulate, fr. modulus a small measure, meter,
     melody, dim. of modus. See {Mode}.]
     1. To form, as sound, to a certain key, or to a certain
        portion.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To vary or inflect in a natural, customary, or musical
        manner; as, the organs of speech modulate the voice in
        reading or speaking.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Could any person so modulate her voice as to deceive
              so many?                              --Broome.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Electronics) To alter the amplitude, frequency, phase, or
        intensity of (the carrier wave of a radio signal) at
        intervals, so as to represent information to be conveyed
        by the signal; -- a technique used to convey information
        by means of radio waves transmitted by one electronic
        device and received by another.
        [WordNet 1.5]

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

  Modulate \Mod"u*late\, v. i. (Mus.)
     To pass from one key into another.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  modulate
       v 1: change the key of, in music; "modulate the melody"
       2: of one's speech, varying the pitch [syn: {tone}, {inflect}]
       3: fix or adjust the time, amount, degree, or rate of;
          "regulate the temperature"; "modulate the pitch" [syn: {regulate}]
       4: adjust the pitch, tone, or volume of
       5: vary the frequency, amplitude, phase, or other
          characteristic of (electromagnetic waves)

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

  139 Moby Thesaurus words for "modulate":
     abate, accommodate, adapt, adjust, adjust to, allay, alleviate,
     alter, ameliorate, assuage, attemper, balance, bank the fire,
     be changed, be converted into, be renewed, better, blunt,
     bottom out, box in, break, break up, change, chasten, checker,
     chop, chop and change, circumscribe, come about, come around,
     come round, condition, constrain, control, convert, damp, dampen,
     de-emphasize, deaden, deform, degenerate, denature, deteriorate,
     deviate, diminish, diverge, diversify, downplay, dull, extenuate,
     fit, flop, haul around, hedge, hedge about, improve, inflect,
     intonate, jibe, keep within bounds, lay, leaven, lenify, lessen,
     lighten, limit, lower, meliorate, mitigate, moderate, modify,
     mutate, narrow, obtund, overthrow, palliate, play down, qualify,
     re-create, realign, rebuild, reconstruct, redesign, reduce,
     reduce the temperature, refit, reform, regulate, regulate by,
     remake, renew, reshape, restrain, restrict, restructure, revamp,
     revive, ring the changes, season, set, set conditions, set limits,
     shift, shift the scene, shuffle the cards, slacken, slow down,
     smother, sober, sober down, soften, stifle, subdue, subvert,
     suppress, swerve, tack, take a turn, tame, temper, tone down, tune,
     tune down, turn, turn aside, turn into, turn the corner,
     turn the scale, turn the tables, turn the tide, turn upside down,
     undergo a change, underplay, vary, veer, warp, weaken,
     work a change, worsen