OSCILLATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does oscillate mean? 

• OSCILLATE (verb)
  The verb OSCILLATE has 2 senses:

1. be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action

2. move or swing from side to side regularly

  Familiarity information: OSCILLATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OSCILLATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they oscillate    ... he / she / it oscillates   
Past simple: oscillated   
Past participle: oscillated   
-ing form: oscillating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

hover; oscillate; vacillate; vibrate

Context example:

He oscillates between accepting the new position and retirement

Hypernyms (to "oscillate" is one way to...):

hesitate; waffle; waver (pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "oscillate"):

shillyshally (be uncertain and vague)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

oscillation (the process of oscillating between states)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move or swing from side to side regularly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

oscillate; vibrate

Context example:

the needle on the meter was oscillating

Hypernyms (to "oscillate" is one way to...):

sway; swing (move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "oscillate"):

hunt (oscillate about a desired speed, position, or state to an undesirable extent)

librate (vibrate before coming to a total rest)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

oscillation (a single complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon)

oscillation ((physics) a regular periodic variation in value about a mean)

oscillatory (having periodic vibrations)

 Context examples 

His shoulders are rounded from much study, and his face protrudes forward, and is forever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashion.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My impression is, that I was in a state of confusion about it, and, oscillating between the two points, touched neither.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

When a woman has been seriously wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom is a broken bell wire.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This hurt was not death, was the thought that oscillated through his reeling consciousness.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Because denser plasma oscillates faster, the team was able to figure out the density of the plasma.

(Sun sends more 'tsunami waves' to Voyager 1, NASA)

A physical phenomenon involving the interaction of atomic nuclei placed in an external magnetic field with an applied electromagnetic field oscillating at a particular frequency.

(Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, NCI Thesaurus)

Applying a high-frequency, oscillating magnetic field to the object caused the iron oxide particles to heat up through induction and warm the entire gripper.

(Tiny magnetic particles enable new material to bend, twist and grab, National Science Foundation)

A technique for determining the zeta potential of a sample through the detection of the motion of dispersed particles relative to a fluid under the influence of an oscillating electric field.

(Electrophoretic Light Scattering, NCI Thesaurus)

From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove buttons.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Past, present, and future mingled; and he went on oscillating across the broad, warm world, through high adventure and noble deeds to Her—ay, and with her, winning her, his arm about her, and carrying her on in flight through the empery of his mind.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)