v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Vibrated p. pr. & vb. n. Vibrating. ] [ L. vibratus, p. p. of vibrare, v. t. & v. i., to shake, brandish, vibrate; akin to Skr. vip to tremble, Icel. veifa to wave, vibrate. See Waive and cf. Whip, v. t. ] 1. To brandish; to move to and fro; to swing; as, to vibrate a sword or a staff. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To mark or measure by moving to and fro; as, a pendulum vibrating seconds. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To affect with vibratory motion; to set in vibration. [ 1913 Webster ]

Breath vocalized, that is, vibrated or undulated, may . . . impress a swift, tremulous motion. Holder. [ 1913 Webster ]

Star to star vibrates light. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To move to and fro, or from side to side, as a pendulum, an elastic rod, or a stretched string, when disturbed from its position of rest; to swing; to oscillate. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To have the constituent particles move to and fro, with alternate compression and dilation of parts, as the air, or any elastic body; to quiver. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To produce an oscillating or quivering effect of sound; as, a whisper vibrates on the ear. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To pass from one state to another; to waver; to fluctuate; as, a man vibrates between two opinions. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. vibratile. ] Adapted to, or used in, vibratory motion; having the power of vibrating; vibratory; as, the vibratile organs of insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. vibratilité. ] The quality or state of being vibratile; disposition to vibration or oscillation. Rush. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. vibratio: cf. F. vibration. ] 1. The act of vibrating, or the state of being vibrated, or in vibratory motion; quick motion to and fro; oscillation, as of a pendulum or musical string. [ 1913 Webster ]

As a harper lays his open palm
Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Physics) A limited reciprocating motion of a particle of an elastic body or medium in alternately opposite directions from its position of equilibrium, when that equilibrium has been disturbed, as when a stretched cord or other body produces musical notes, or particles of air transmit sounds to the ear. The path of the particle may be in a straight line, in a circular arc, or in any curve whatever. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Vibration and oscillation are both used, in mechanics, of the swinging, or rising and falling, motion of a suspended or balanced body; the latter term more appropriately, as signifying such motion produced by gravity, and of any degree of slowness, while the former applies especially to the quick, short motion to and fro which results from elasticity, or the action of molecular forces among the particles of a body when disturbed from their position of rest, as in a spring. [ 1913 Webster ]

Amplitude of vibration, the maximum displacement of a vibrating particle or body from its position of rest. --
Phase of vibration, any part of the path described by a particle or body in making a complete vibration, in distinction from other parts, as while moving from one extreme to the other, or on one side of the line of rest, in distinction from the opposite. Two particles are said to be in the same phase when they are moving in the same direction and with the same velocity, or in corresponding parts of their paths. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Dim. of vibration. ] A small vibration. [ R. ] Chambers. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Vibrating; vibratory. “A vibrative motion.” Sir I. Newton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One that vibrates, or causes vibration or oscillation of any kind; specif. (a) (Elec.) (1) A trembler, as of an electric bell. (2) A vibrating reed for transmitting or receiving pulsating currents in a harmonic telegraph system. (3) A device for vibrating the pen of a siphon recorder to diminish frictional resistance on the paper. (4) An oscillator. (b) An ink-distributing roller in a printing machine, having an additional vibratory motion. (a) (Music) A vibrating reed, esp. in a reed organ. (d) (Weaving) Any of various vibrating devices, as one for slackening the warp as a shed opens. (e) An attachment, usually pneumatic, in a molding machine to shake the pattern loose. (f) a small electrical device held in the hand, with a motor that causes the device and hand to vibrate, and is used for vibratory massage. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

a. [ Cf. F. vibratoire. ] Consisting in, or causing, vibration, or oscillation; vibrating; as, a vibratory motion; a vibratory power. [ 1913 Webster ]