▪ I. ˈvibrate, pa. pple. and ppl. a. rare.
[ad. L. vibrāt-us, pa. pple. of vibrāre: see next.]
† a. pa. pple. Vibrated (cf. vibrate v. 7 b.).
| c 1420 Lydg. Ballad Commend. Our Lady 115 O fyry Tytan, persing with thy bemes, Whos vertuous bryghtnesse was in thi brest vibrat. |
b. ppl. a. Vibrating with something. rare—1.
| 1849 Tait's Mag. XVI. 9 The sightless belfry clock..had..rung, vibrate with triumph. |
▪ II. vibrate, v.
(vaɪˈbreɪt, older ˈvaɪbreɪt)
[f. L. vibrāt-, ppl. stem of vibrāre to move rapidly to and fro, to brandish, shake, etc. So F. vibrer, Sp. and Pg. vibrar, It. vibrare.]
I. † 1. intr. Of persons: To move to and fro in a fight or struggle. Obs.—1
| 1616 Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. ix. 177 Pusshinge, repusshinge, vibratinge agen, as valient mortal and immortal men. |
2. Of a pendulum, etc.: To swing to and fro; to oscillate.
| 1667 Phil. Trans. II. 440 A Pendulum..three foot, three inches..between the middle of the Bullet and the upper end of the Thread, where it is fastned..when it vibrates. 1698 J. Keill Exam. Th. Earth (1734) 265 At Cayenne in America,..it is observ'd, that a Pendulum Vibrating in a second is shorter [etc.]. Ibid. 279 The Gravity where the swiftest Pendulum Vibrates. 1704 S. Clarke Attributes iii. (1738) 26 Pendulums, which (being of equal Lengths and unequal Gravities) vibrate in equal Times. 1827 N. Arnott Physics I. 96 Long pendulums vibrate more slowly than short ones. 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. ii. (1842) 33 To ascertain that they [i.e. balances] really are in adjustment; and that, after vibrating freely, they take a horizontal position. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XV. 718/1 The double complex pendulum, when it vibrates in one plane. |
3. a. Of sounds: To strike on, sound in, the ear, etc., with an effect like that of a vibrating chord; to resound; to continue to be heard. Chiefly poet.
| 1735 Pope Prol. Sat. 357 The whisper, that to greatness still too near, Perhaps, yet vibrates on his Sov'reign's ear. 1742 Young Nt. Th. iii. 91 Her song still vibrates in my ravisht ear. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian i, The touching accents of her voice still vibrating on his heart. 1813 Byron Corsair i. xvi, He hears The clang of tumult vibrate on his ears. 1821 Shelley ‘Music, when [etc.]’ 2 Music, when soft voices die, Vibrates in the memory. 1910 Macintosh Poets Ayrshire 46 The sound of the anvil had ceased to vibrate in the streets. |
b. To circulate about, move or pass through, pierce or penetrate to, by or as by vibration.
| 1756 W. Toldervy Hist. 2 Orphans IV. 167 This strange news had vibrated about the town. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 220 Those powers that..Catch every nerve, and vibrate through the frame. 1836 Johnsoniana 323 Surely the finest sensibilities must vibrate through his frame, since they breathe so sweetly through his song! 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India I. 211 The consequences of the ambition of the French Emperor thus vibrated to the heart of Asia. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola xl, The voice..had vibrated through her more than once before. 1875 B. Taylor Faust I. Notes 230 The puppet-play echoed and vibrated in many tones through my mind. |
4. To move or swing backwards and forwards, or upwards and downwards, with some degree of rapidity; to quiver, shake, or tremble.
| 1756 Burke Subl. & B. Wks. I. 267 The whole capacity of the eye, vibrating in all its parts, must approach near to the nature of what causes pain. 1802 Med. Jrnl. VIII. 345 The heart continued the whole time to vibrate..about thirty times in a minute. 1816 Tuckey Narr. Exped. R. Zaire iii. (1818) 91 A variety of palm trees vibrating in the breeze. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxix. (1856) 250 The timbers..vibrated so as to communicate to you the peculiar tremor of a cotton-factory. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 358 The burning heat..making the whole desolate, hideous scene vibrate before your eyes as you can see things vibrating through the hot air over a line of gas jets. |
b. spec. in Physics (see vibration 3).
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 163 If we strike a bell, or a stretched string, for instance,..a single blow produces a sound..which is multiplied as often as it happens to undulate, or vibrate. 1812–6 Playfair Nat. Phil. (1819) I. 287 A musical string may vibrate, but if it is touched by a bit of cloth, or any soft body, no sound is heard. 1832 Brewster Nat. Magic viii. 180 If this string is taken by the middle and pulled aside, or if it is suddenly struck, it will vibrate between its two fixed points. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) I. xiv. 384 When a hammer strikes a bell, the latter vibrates. 1875 Manning Mission H. Ghost i. 25 You know that if you strike a note of music, all the octave notes will vibrate. |
c. transf. and fig.
| 1813 Shelley Q. Mab. iii. 186 When Nero..felt A new-created sense within his soul Thrill to the sight, and vibrate to the sound. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xl, Nerve and bone of that poor man's body vibrated to those words. 1862 Burton Bk. Hunter i. 46 A hidden pang or gust of wrath has vibrated behind that placid countenance. 1898 ‘Merriman’ Roden's Corner xxix. 306 The sight of him, the sound of his voice, stirred something within her that vibrated for hours. |
5. fig. To move or oscillate between (or betwixt) two extreme conditions, opinions, etc.; to fluctuate or vary from one extreme to another. Also without const.: To vacillate in opinion.
| 1782 Priestley Inst. Relig. (ed. 2) II. 107 A person who is less conversant in these things would feel his mind, as it were, vibrate between both [gains and losses]. 1798 Survey Province of Moray iii. 279 The number of scholars vibrates from 20 to 90. 1818 Ranken Hist. France V. v. 403 The marc of silver..vibrated betwixt 5 livres and 20 or 30 livres. 1857 Maurice Mor. & Met. Philos. IV. viii. §33. 466 The third method is to vibrate between these two opposite statements. 1874 Green Short Hist. ix. §1. 589 The life of a man of fashion vibrated between frivolity and excess. 1875 Merivale Gen. Hist. Rome lxxi. 582 While his susceptible imagination was in this state of fusion, his rival..was vibrating furiously from one side to the other. |
II. † 6. trans. To brandish or flourish (a sword). Obs. rare. (Cf. vibrant ppl. a. 2.)
| 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 188 They..shake and vibrate their Swords vpon their Shields. Ibid. 207 In this their Extasie..the boyes..vibrate a readie sword against the beholders. |
7. To throw with vibratory motion; to launch or hurl (a thunderbolt, sentence, etc.). Now Obs. or arch.
| 1641 ‘Smectymnuus’ Answ. ix. (1653) 39 Excommunication..was never vibrated but by the hand of those that laboured in the Word and Doctrine. 1660 H. More Myst. Godl. To Rdr. p. xxi, Such a Bishop as I have hitherto described.., that..vibrates that sacred thunder and lightning, the truely-dreadfull sentence of Excommunication. 1664 ― Myst. Iniq., Apol. 555 Though I must confess that this is very stoutly and smartly vibrated, as a dart from a strong and agil arm. 1840–1 De Quincey Style iii. in Lett. Self-Educ., etc. (1860) 272 That orator [i.e. Pericles] of whom (amongst so many that vibrated thunderbolts) it was said peculiarly that he thundered and lightened. 1846 Landor Imag. Conv. II. 44/2 Many vibrate sharp comminations from the embrasures of portentously slit sleeves. |
b. To emit, give forth, send out (light, sound, etc.) by, or as by, vibration or vibratory motion.
| c 1643 Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 59 A Foil..whereby it [i.e. a diamond] may the better transmit and vibrate its native Lustre and Rays. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 218, I have seen the Dog-starr to vibrate so strong and bright a radiation of light. 1788 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) I. 81/2 As to the frequency with which they [sc. chords] vibrate the deepest tones. 1810 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XXIX. 418 O chear, Editha, and allow thy bosom To vibrate sympathy. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 578 Star to star vibrates light. 1874 Contemp. Rev. XXIV. 421 Any number of strings that are in unison will vibrate an answer to one of themselves when struck. |
8. Of a pendulum, etc.: To measure (seconds) by vibration; also, to swing (so many times).
| 1667 Phil. Trans. II. 440 A Pendulum, vibrating Seconds,..must be three foot, three inches, and one fifth of an inch long. Ibid. 441 A Pendulum, held in the hand, vibrating 58 single strokes in a Minute. 1704 W. Derham Ibid. XXV. 1785 The Movements..were an Eight day Clock vibrating seconds, and an Half-seconds Movement of mine. 1760 in Sixth Rep. Dep. Kpr. App. ii. 130 A pendulum..which..will vibrate seconds in a true and regular manner. 1803 J. Wood Princ. Mech. viii. 173 A pendulum which vibrates seconds in very small arcs. 1871 C. Davies Metr. Syst. ii. 22 The length of a pendulum which should vibrate seconds at a given point on the earth's surface. |
9. To give a vibratory motion to (something); to cause to move to and fro or up and down, esp. with a quick motion; to put in vibration.
| a 1700 Evelyn Diary 19 Sept. 1657, 2 Virginian rattlesnakes..swiftly vibrating and shaking their tailes. 1728 Young Love Fame vi. 107 With skill she vibrates her eternal tongue, For ever most divinely in the wrong. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 221 Their tails terminate with a hard horny spur, which they vibrate very quick when disturbed. 1822 T. Taylor Apuleius vii. 145 Though I vibrated my pendulous lips with excessive rotundity. 1879 G. B. Prescott Sp. Telephone 115 Bars, which, when to be vibrated by the action of heat, are made of brass. a 1887 C. C. Abbott Naturalist's Rambles 303 The last spotted adder..vibrated the tail in a very marked manner. |
b. fig. or in fig. context.
| 1815 Keats Ode to Apollo v, Each vibrates the string That with its tyrant temper best accords. 1875 Lowell Wordsworth Pr. Wks. 1890 IV. 365 He saw man such as he can only be when he is vibrated by the orgasm of a national emotion. 1876 ― Among my Bks. Ser. ii. 165 The ‘Muiopotmos’ pleases us all the more that it vibrates in us a string of classical association. |
c. refl. To bring into a certain state by or after vibration. rare—1.
| a 1849 Poe Tales, Monos & Una (ad fin.), That feeble thrill had vibrated itself into quiescence. |
Hence vibrating vbl. n.
| 1743 Emerson Fluxions 303 To find the Time of a Pendulum's vibrating in the Arch of a Cycloid. 1882 Bain Mill iii. 133 There was a clear walk, which was his principal place for ‘vibrating’, as he [Bentham] called his indoor exercise. |