oscillate

[os-uh-leyt]

verb (used without object)

oscillated, oscillating 

1. to swing or move to and fro, as a pendulum does.

2. to vary or vacillate between differing beliefs, opinions, conditions, etc..

   He oscillates regularly between elation and despair.

   Synonyms: waver, fluctuate

3. Physics.,  to have, produce, or generate oscillations.

4. Mathematics.,  (of a function, sequence, etc.) to tend to no limit, including infinity.

   The sequence 0, 1, 0, 1, … oscillates.

verb (used with object)

oscillated, oscillating 

1. to cause to move to and fro; vibrate.

oscillate

/ ˈɒsɪˌleɪt /

verb

1. (intr) to move or swing from side to side regularly

2. (intr) to waver between opinions, courses of action, etc

3. physics to undergo or produce or cause to undergo or produce oscillation

Other Word Forms

• interoscillate verb
• unoscillating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of oscillate¹

1720–30; < Latin oscillātus (past participle of oscillāre “to swing, ride on a swing”), equivalent to oscill(um) “a swing” + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of oscillate¹

C18: from Latin oscillāre to swing, from oscillum a swing

Synonym Study

See swing ¹.

Example Sentences

I couldn’t center the clay on my wheel, causing it to wobble uncontrollably as I also struggled to control the wheel’s speed, oscillating between going too slow and too fast.

From Salon

Clinging to the chassis of an airplane with the wind plastering his hair to his forehead and oscillating his gums like bulldog in a convertible, he is, in fact, exceedingly flapped.

From Los Angeles Times

They are extremely timely, heavy films, but still wildly compelling, oscillating from three different kinds of institutional violence to two distinct films about the power of music and the arts.

From Salon

But Tung is a centrist by San Francisco standards, and the city’s political pendulum, which has long oscillated between left and far left, has clearly swung her direction.

From Los Angeles Times

Puccini’s heroine here is overwhelmed by oscillating sine waves.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fluctuate 
• lurch 
• seesaw 
• teeter 
• vacillate 
• waver 
• wobble