vibrate

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vi·brate

(vī′brāt′)

v. vi·brat·ed, vi·brat·ing, vi·brates

v.intr.

a. To move back and forth or to and fro, especially rhythmically and rapidly: The eardrum vibrates in response to sound waves. See Synonyms at swing.

b. To progress in a given direction while moving back and forth rapidly: The sound wave vibrated through the water.

2. To be in a state of great activity, excitement, or agitation: "Even as the film moved ... to the more deadly fields of Vietnam, old hatreds vibrated in me" (Loudon Wainwright).

3. To produce a sound; resonate: "The noise of cars and motorcycles, voices and music vibrates from the street" (Edmundo Paz Solden).

4. To fluctuate or waver, as between states or in making choices: "The fear of repetition and the lure of repetition: these are the two poles between which the movie vibrates" (Wendy Lesser).

v.tr.

1. To cause to move back and forth rapidly: The rattlesnake vibrated its tail.

2. To produce (sound) by vibration.

A setting on a cell phone that causes the phone to shake rapidly without producing a ringtone when a call or text message is received.

[Latin vibrāre, vibrāt-; see weip- in Indo-European roots.]

vi′bra·tive, vi′bra·to′ry (-brə-tôr′ē) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

vibrate

(vaɪˈbreɪt)

1. to move or cause to move back and forth rapidly; shake, quiver, or throb

2. (intr) to oscillate

3. to send out (a sound) by vibration; resonate or cause to resonate

4. (intr) to waver

5. (General Physics) physics to undergo or cause to undergo an oscillatory or periodic process, as of an alternating current; oscillate

6. (intr) rare to respond emotionally; thrill

[C17: from Latin vibrāre]

vibratile adj

viˈbrating adj

viˈbratingly adv

ˈvibratory adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

vi•brate

(ˈvaɪ breɪt)

v. -brat•ed, -brat•ing. v.i.

1. to move to and fro, as a pendulum; oscillate.

2. to move to and fro or up and down quickly and repeatedly; quiver; tremble.

3. (of sounds) to produce or have a quivering or vibratory effect; resound.

4. to thrill, as in emotional response.

5. to move between alternatives; vacillate.

v.t.

6. to cause to move to and fro, swing, or oscillate.

7. to cause to quiver or tremble.

8. to give forth or emit by or as if by vibration.

[1610–20; < Latin vibrātus, past participle of vibrāre to move to and fro]

vibrate

Past participle: vibrated
Gerund: vibrating

Imperative
vibrate
vibrate

Present
I vibrate
you vibrate
he/she/it vibrates
we vibrate
you vibrate
they vibrate

Preterite
I vibrated
you vibrated
he/she/it vibrated
we vibrated
you vibrated
they vibrated

Present Continuous
I am vibrating
you are vibrating
he/she/it is vibrating
we are vibrating
you are vibrating
they are vibrating

Present Perfect
I have vibrated
you have vibrated
he/she/it has vibrated
we have vibrated
you have vibrated
they have vibrated

Past Continuous
I was vibrating
you were vibrating
he/she/it was vibrating
we were vibrating
you were vibrating
they were vibrating

Past Perfect
I had vibrated
you had vibrated
he/she/it had vibrated
we had vibrated
you had vibrated
they had vibrated

Future
I will vibrate
you will vibrate
he/she/it will vibrate
we will vibrate
you will vibrate
they will vibrate

Future Perfect
I will have vibrated
you will have vibrated
he/she/it will have vibrated
we will have vibrated
you will have vibrated
they will have vibrated

Future Continuous
I will be vibrating
you will be vibrating
he/she/it will be vibrating
we will be vibrating
you will be vibrating
they will be vibrating

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been vibrating
you have been vibrating
he/she/it has been vibrating
we have been vibrating
you have been vibrating
they have been vibrating

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been vibrating
you will have been vibrating
he/she/it will have been vibrating
we will have been vibrating
you will have been vibrating
they will have been vibrating

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been vibrating
you had been vibrating
he/she/it had been vibrating
we had been vibrating
you had been vibrating
they had been vibrating

Conditional
I would vibrate
you would vibrate
he/she/it would vibrate
we would vibrate
you would vibrate
they would vibrate

Past Conditional
I would have vibrated
you would have vibrated
he/she/it would have vibrated
we would have vibrated
you would have vibrated
they would have vibrated

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Verb	1.	vibrate - shake, quiver, or throb; move back and forth rapidly, usually in an uncontrolled manner move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right" shimmy, wobble - tremble or shake; "His voice wobbled with restrained emotion" judder, shake - shake or vibrate rapidly and intensively; "The old engine was juddering"
	2.	vibrate - move or swing from side to side regularly; "the needle on the meter was oscillating" oscillate sway, swing - move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner; "He swung back" hunt - oscillate about a desired speed, position, or state to an undesirable extent; "The oscillator hunts about the correct frequency" librate - vibrate before coming to a total rest; "the children's swing librated"
	3.	vibrate - be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action; "He oscillates between accepting the new position and retirement" hover, oscillate, vacillate hesitate, waffle, waver - pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness; "Authorities hesitate to quote exact figures" shillyshally - be uncertain and vague
	4.	vibrate - sound with resonance; "The sound resonates well in this theater" resonate make vibrant sounds, purr - indicate pleasure by purring; characteristic of cats sound, go - make a certain noise or sound; "She went `Mmmmm'"; "The gun went `bang'"
	5.	vibrate - feel sudden intense sensation or emotion; "he was thrilled by the speed and the roar of the engine" thrill, tickle stimulate, stir, shake up, excite, shake - stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of; "These stories shook the community"; "the civil war shook the country"

vibrate

verb

1. shake, tremble, shiver, fluctuate, quiver, oscillate, judder (informal) Her whole body seemed to vibrate with terror.

2. throb, pulse, resonate, pulsate, reverberate The noise vibrated through the whole house.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

vibrate

verb

1. To move to and fro in short, jerky movements:

quake, quaver, quiver, shake, shiver, shudder, tremble, twitter.

2. To move to and fro violently:

quake, rock, shake, tremble.

Translations

يَهْتَز، يَرْتَج

chvět sekmitat

vibrere

titra, skjálfa

vibrare vibrazione vibrante

vibracijavibruoti

drebēttrīcētvibrēt

kmitať

vibrirati

titre mek

使振动

vibrate

[vaɪˈbreɪt]

A. VI → vibrar
the room vibrated with tension → se palpaba la tensión en la sala
her voice vibrated with sorrow → la voz le temblaba de pena

B. VT → hacer vibrar

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

vibrate

[vaɪˈbreɪt]

vi → vibrer

vt → faire vibrer

vibrate

vi (lit, fig) → zittern, beben (→ with vor +dat); (machine, string, air) → vibrieren; (notes) → schwingen; the painting vibrates with life → das Bild bebt or sprüht vor Leben; Glasgow’s West End vibrates with activity → im Glasgower West End pulsiert das Leben; the town was vibrating with excitement → Aufregung hatte die Stadt ergriffen

vt → zum Vibrieren bringen; string → zum Schwingen bringen; they study the way the machine vibrates the body → sie studieren, wie die Maschine den Körper erschüttert

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

vibrate

[vaɪˈbreɪt] vi to vibrate (with) (quiver) → vibrare (per); (resound) → risuonare (di); (footsteps) → risuonare

vibrate

(vaiˈbreit) , ((American) ˈvaibreit) verb

to (cause to) shake, tremble, or move rapidly back and forth. Every sound that we hear is making part of our ear vibrate; The engine has stopped vibrating.

viˈbration ((British and American) -ˈbrei-) noun

(an) act of vibrating. This building is badly affected by the vibration of all the heavy traffic that passes.

References in classic literature ?

We do not hear that Memnon's statue gave forth its melody at all under the rushing of the mightiest wind, or in response to any other influence divine or human than certain short-lived sunbeams of morning; and we must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range of music, and will not vibrate in the least under a touch that fills others with tremulous rapture or quivering agony.

View in context

Perhaps, deep down, the reason is that there still vibrates in the masculine blood the thrilling surprise of the moment when man first realised that the angel woman was built upon the same carnivorous principles as his grosser self.

View in context

It is always the same fibre which vibrates, the tenderest and most sensitive; but instead of an angel caressing it, it is a demon who is wrenching at it.

View in context

PULSEROLL has been making vibrating foam rollers for a while - basically upgraded versions of traditional foam rollers with motors inside them to make them vibrate.

TRIED & TESTED

ABI JACKSON gives it a go PULSEROLL has been making vibrating foam rollers for a while - basically upgraded versions of traditional foam rollers with motors inside them to make them vibrate.

TRIED & TESTED

As we know, strings whatever their gauge is require space to vibrate freely to produce sound.

That sitar-like sound!

Made of lightweight, breathable cotton material, the gloves gently vibrate when users push a button, warming aching joints and increasing blood circulation via mild compression.

Brownmed adds to vibration therapy line

Well, a help in form a smartpen has been developed that'll vibrate to alert the writer when an error is sensed.

Prototype vibrating smartpen senses spelling or grammar errors

The clock includes a cordless vibrating pad with an on/off switch that will vibrate when the alarm sounds if the clock is set for vibration.

TCL 200 Digital Alarm Clock

When you speak into the plastic cup, the sound waves cause the bottom of the cup to vibrate. This, in turn, causes the string to vibrate.

It takes two: science fun with friends a string telephone

Low frequencies caused the tympanai membrane to vibrate more than the high frequencies did.