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  1. modulate love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. v. To adjust or adapt to a certain proportion; regulate or temper.
  2. v. To change or vary the pitch, intensity, or tone of (one's voice or a musical instrument, for example).
  3. v. Electronics To vary the frequency, amplitude, phase, or other characteristic of (electromagnetic waves).
  4. v. Electronics To vary (electron velocity) in an electron beam.
  5. v. Music To move from one key or tonality to another by means of a melody or chord progression.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. To modify; adjust; adapt; regulate.
  2. To vary or inflect the sound or utterance of, especially so as to give expressiveness to what is uttered; vary or adapt in tone.
  3. To vary the pitch of; inflect; melodize.
  4. In music, to change from one key (tonality) to another, by utilizing one or more of the tones common to both.
  5. In music, to pass from one key (tonality) into another, or from the major into the minor mode, or vice versa. See modulation, 3 .
  6. Hence To vary, oscillate, or fluctuate.

Wiktionary

  1. v. transitive To regulate, adjust or adapt
  2. v. transitive To change the pitch, intensity or tone of one's voice or of a musical instrument
  3. v. transitive (electronics) to vary the amplitude, frequency or phase of a carrier wave in proportion to the amplitude etc of a source wave (such as speech or music)
  4. v. intransitive, music to move from one key or tonality to another, especially by using a chord progression

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. v. To form, as sound, to a certain key, or to a certain portion.
  2. v. To vary or inflect in a natural, customary, or musical manner.
  3. v. (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.
  4. v. (Mus.) To pass from one key into another.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. vary the frequency, amplitude, phase, or other characteristic of (electromagnetic waves)
  2. v. fix or adjust the time, amount, degree, or rate of
  3. v. vary the pitch of one's speech
  4. v. change the key of, in music
  5. v. adjust the pitch, tone, or volume of

Etymologies

  1. From Latin modulatus, past participle of modulari ("to measure, regulate, modulate"), from modulus ("measure"); see modulus. Compare module. (Wiktionary)
  2. Latin modulārī, modulāt-, to measure off, to regulate, from modulus, diminutive of modus, measure; see med- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (5)

Words with the same meaning

  1. adjust
  1. inflect
  1. tongue
  1. accentuate
  1. pitch

hypernyms (14)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. change
  2. vary
  1. alter
  2. correct
  1. set
  2. adjust
  1. mouth
  2. verbalise
  1. speak
  2. verbalize
  1. utter
  2. talk
  1. play
  2. spiel

reverse dictionary (21)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. modulant
  2. intonate
  3. inflect
  4. module
  1. singing-muscle
  2. equal temperament
  3. duodenate
  4. modulative
  1. interferon
  2. modulator
  3. key
  4. pulsate
  1. kerr cell
  2. modem
  3. pulse
  4. qualify
  1. tompion
  2. tongue
  3. warble
  4. whistle
  1. syrinx

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  • fbharjo see you on the range when its time for a change May 12, 2008

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‘modulate’ has been looked up 1379 times, loved by 4 people, added to 16 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 11.