vibrate

CEFRB2

/vaɪˈbɹeɪt/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To move quickly from side to side or up and down.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To brandish; to swing to and fro.

Examples

  • I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

  • Passengers became nervous when the plane began to vibrate.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings
  1. To resonate.

  2. To shake with small, rapid movements to and fro.

  3. To mark or measure by moving to and fro.

More examples

In context
  • to vibrate a sword or a staff

  • Her mind was vibrating with excitement.

  • a pendulum vibrating seconds

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Because I turned off the sound, my phone will blank when I get a call.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

The adjective (then also used as a participle) is first attested in 1420, in Middle English, the verb in 1620; partly from Middle English vibrat(e) (“reverberant”), partly directly borrowed from Latin vibrātus, perfect passive participle of vibrō (“to agitate, set in tremulous motion”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to oscillate, swing”) or *weyb-.