vibrate

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin vibrātus, perfect passive participle of vibrō (“agitate, set in tremulous motion”).

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪt

Verb

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.
   • (Can we date this quote by Holder and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

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

   • (Can we date this quote by Tennyson and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Star to star vibrates light.

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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 震う (ja), 震わせる
• Jarai: mơgơi
• 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 響く (ja)
• Polish: rezonować impf

to brandish; to swing to and fro

• Finnish: heiluttaa (fi), heilutella (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

to mark or measure by moving to and fro

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

to set in vibration

• Finnish: väristää, värisyttää (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Vibration (de) f

Further reading

• “vibrate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “vibrate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

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

(deprecated template usage) vibrāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of vibrō