Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A type of seismic surface wave that moves with a rolling motion, causing rock particles to vibrate in directions both perpendicular and parallel to the main direction of wave propagation. Rayleigh waves are slower than Love waves.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[After John William Strutt, Third Baron Rayleigh.]
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