Vibration

3 definitions found

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

  Vibration \Vi*bra"tion\, n. [L. vibratio: cf. F. vibration.]
     1. 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.
                                                    --Longfellow.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: 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.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  vibration
       n 1: the act of vibrating [syn: {quiver}, {quivering}]
       2: a distinctive emotional atmosphere; sensed intuitively; "it
          gave me a nostalgic vibe"; "that man gives off bad vibes"
          [syn: {vibe}]
       3: a shaky motion; "the shaking of his fingers as he lit his
          pipe" [syn: {shaking}, {shakiness}, {trembling}, {quiver},
           {quivering}, {palpitation}]
       4: (physics) a regular periodic variation in value about a mean
          [syn: {oscillation}]

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

  80 Moby Thesaurus words for "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