oscillate

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Definitions (16)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. intransitive verb To swing back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm.
  2. intransitive verb To waver, as between conflicting opinions or courses of action; vacillate: "The court has oscillated over the decades from more liberal to less, more conservative to less, depending upon who was president at the time of vacancies” (Gordon J. Humphrey). See Synonyms at swing.
  3. intransitive verb Physics To vary between alternate extremes, usually within a definable period of time.
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Examples

  • Finn's slender fingers lightly brushed over the soft cashmere of the sweater he still held. —  Ryan
  • If the field should start to oscillate, the ship could be shaken to pieces. —  Tar Aiym Krang
  • " There was a sore spot on the back of my skull and my ears still rang slightly; the yellow halo of light around the lantern seemed to oscillate, to swell and shrink in rhythm with the beating of my heart. —  Drums of Autumn
  • Positive feedback will cause any system to oscillate out of control. "\par —  Time Enough For Love
  • As with the switch in our first model of Thomson's lamp, it is obvious that the speed of the ball increases unboundedly (and so condition a) for impossibility is met), while at the same time, as we approach t* = 1 P.M., its position does not tend to any defined limit, due to the fact that it must oscillate continuously between two set positions A and B one unity distance apart from each other (and so also condition b) for impossibility is met). —  Supertasks
 

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Oscillate has been looked up 252 times, favorited 0 times, listed 48 times, and commented on twice.

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin ōscillāre, ōscillāt-, from ōscillum, swing, probably from ōscillum, small mask of Bacchus, diminutive of ōs, mouth; see ōs- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Latin oscillatus, past participle of oscillare (later Italian oscillare = Portuguese oscillar = Spanish oscilar = French osciller), swing, from oscillum, a swing, usually identified with oscillum, a little face or mask hung to a tree and swaying with the wind, diminutive of os, mouth, face: see os.
 

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/ˈɑsɪleɪt/
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