Breath vocalized, that is, vibrated or undulated, may . . . impress a
swift, tremulous motion.
Holder.
Star to star vibrates light.
Tennyson.
Vi"brate (?), 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.
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.
3. To produce an oscillating or quivering effect of sound; as, a
whisper vibrates on the ear. Pope.
4. To pass from one state to another; to waver; to fluctuate; as, a man
vibrates between two opinions.
Vi"bra*tile (?), a. [Cf. F. vibratile.] Adapted to, or used in,
vibratory motion; having the power of vibrating; vibratory; as, the
vibratile organs of insects.
Vi`bra*til"i*ty (?), n. [Cf. F. vibratilité.] The quality or state of
being vibratile; disposition to vibration or oscillation. Rush.
Vi*bra"tion (?), 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.
As a harper lays his open palm Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations.
Longfellow.
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.
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.
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.
Vi*bra"ti*un`cle (?), a. [Dim. of vibration.] A small vibration. [R.]
Chambers.
Vi"bra*tive (?), a. Vibrating; vibratory. "A vibrative motion." Sir I.
Newton.
Vi"bra*to*ry (?), a. [Cf. F. vibratoire.] Consisting in, or causing,
vibration, or oscillation; vibrating; as, a vibratory motion; a
vibratory power.
||Vib"ri*o (?), n.; pl. E. Vibrios (#), L. Vibriones (#). [NL., fr. L.
||vibrare to vibrate, to move by undulations.] (Biol.) A genus of
||motile bacteria characterized by short, slightly sinuous filaments
||and an undulatory motion; also, an individual of this genus.
||
||Vi*bris"sa (?), n.; pl. Vibrissæ (#). [L. vibrissae, pl., the hairs
||in the nostrils of man, fr. vibrare to vibrate; — so called because
||touching them tickles a person, and causes him to shake his head.] 1.
||(Anat.) One of the specialized or tactile hairs which grow about the
||nostrils, or on other parts of the face, in many animals, as the
||so-called whiskers of the cat, and the hairs of the nostrils of man.
||
2. (Zoöl.) The bristlelike feathers near the mouth of many birds.
Vi"bro*scope (?), n. 1. An instrument for observing or tracing
vibrations.