vibrate

English

Etymology

From Latin vibrātus, perfect passive participle of vibrō (“agitate, set in tremulous motion”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /vaɪˈbɹeɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈvaɪ.bɹeɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪt

Verb

vibrate (third-person singular simple present vibrates, present participle vibrating, simple past and past participle vibrated)

1. (intransitive) To shake with small, rapid movements to and fro.
2. (intransitive) To resonate.

   Her mind was vibrating with excitement.

3. (transitive) To brandish; to swing to and fro.

   to vibrate a sword or a staff

4. (transitive) To mark or measure by moving to and fro.

   a pendulum vibrating seconds

5. (transitive) To affect with vibratory motion; to set in vibration.
   • 1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech

     Breath vocalized, i.e., vibrated or undulated, may […] impress a swift, tremulous motion.

   • 1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Aylmer’s Field”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], OCLC 879237670, page 81:

     Star to star vibrates light: may soul to soul / Strike thro' a finer element of her own?

6. (transitive, slang, dated) To please or impress someone.
   • 1949, Ladies' Home Journal (volume 66, page 115)

     And if he wants to give you high praise, he'll answer, "That vibrates me"; "That has a large charge"; or "That's oogley."

   • 1961, Congressional Record

     […] standing side by side under a Grecian column, tapping their feet in unison and saying such things as "Hot-diggety,” “Razz-ma-tazz," “That vibrates me," and other expressions of praise current in their youth.

7. (intransitive, music) To use vibrato.

Related terms

• vibrant
• vibratile
• vibration
• vibratiuncle
• vibrative
• vibrato
• vibrator

 

Translations

to move with small movements rapidly

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: vibrar (ca)
• Dutch: trillen (nl)
• Esperanto: vibri
• Finnish: värähdellä (fi), väristä (fi); täristä (fi)
• French: vibrer (fr)
• Galician: vibrar (gl)
• Georgian: ვიბრირება (vibrireba), თრთოლა (trtola), რხევა (rxeva), რყევა (rq̇eva)
• German: vibrieren (de)
• Italian: vibrare (it)

• Japanese: 震う (ja), 震わせる
• Jarai: mơgơi
• Kapampangan: kingking
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: neneke, tōiri, tōiriiri
• Norwegian: vibrere (no)
• Polish: wibrować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: vibrar (pt)
• Russian: вибри́ровать (ru) impf (vibrírovatʹ)
• Spanish: vibrar (es)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

to resonate

• Finnish: väristä (fi), värähdellä (fi)

• Japanese: 響く (ja)
• Polish: rezonować impf

to brandish; to swing to and fro

• Finnish: heiluttaa (fi), heilutella (fi)

to mark or measure by moving to and fro

to set in vibration

• Finnish: väristää, värisyttää (fi)

• Japanese: 震わせる

Noun

vibrate (uncountable)

1. The setting, on a portable electronic device, that causes it to vibrate rather than sound any (or most) needed alarms.

   Please put your cellphones on vibrate for the duration of the meeting.

Translations

setting

• Finnish: värinähälytys, värinätoiminto

• German: Vibration (de) f

Further reading

• vibrate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• vibrate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• vrbaite

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Italian

Verb

vibrate

1. second-person plural present indicative of vibrare
2. second-person plural imperative of vibrare
3. feminine plural of vibrato

Anagrams

• brevità, trabevi

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Latin

Verb

vibrāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of vibrō