saltate, v.
(ˈsælteɪt)
[f. L. saltāt-, ppl. stem of saltāre to dance, frequent. of salīre to leap.]
1. intr. To leap; to jump; to skip. Hence ˈsaltating vbl. n. rare.
| 1623 Cockeram 11, To Dance. Saltate, Tripudiate. 1846 in Worcester (citing Month. Rev.). 1865 Cornh. Mag. Mar. 299, I must here confess that they saltated to a mandolin touched by this hand. 1852 Dana Crust. ii. 1180 The species of Cyclops swim..with a saltating motion. |
2. Physical Geogr. To move by saltation (see saltation 1 d); also trans. (causatively). Chiefly as saltating ppl. a.
| 1941 R. A. Bagnold Physics Blown Sand & Desert Dunes viii. 104 The energy supplied to the saltating grains by the wind. 1961 N. D. Opdyke in A. E. M. Nairn Descript. Palaeoclimatol. iii. 47 Millet seed sand grains..show very high sphericity and roundness values due to their mode of transport which tends to round off the individual grains while they are being saltated. 1969 Nature 23 Aug. 792/2 Larger particles may be moved, not by the wind itself, but by momentum exchange with saltating grains. 1976 R. C. Selley Introd. Sedimentol. vi. 172 In a situation such as a river channel,..gravel will be rolling along the bottom, sand will sedately saltate, and silt and clay will be carried in suspension. |