vibrate

i. . [Latin vibratus, pa. par. of vibro to shake, to swing, to brandish; cf. Icel. veifa =to vibrate, to wave.]' IMG:content-0490.png:[blocks in formation] 2. To move up and down, or to and fro with alternate compre ion and dilation of parts, as an elastic fluid; to undulate. "The eustachian tube [is] like the hole in a drum, to let the air pa freely into and out of the barrel of the ear, as the covering membrane vibrates ."- Paley : Natural Theol., ch. iii. 3. To produce a vibratory or resonant effect; to quiver, to sound. "The whisper that to greatne still too near, Perhaps, yet vibrates on his sovereign's ear." Pope : Prol. to Satires , 357. 4. To fluctuate or waver, as between two opinions. B. Transitive: 1. To move backward and forward or to and fro; to swing, to oscillate. 2. To affect with vibratory motion; to cause to quiver. "Breath vocalized, that is vibrated or undulated." Holder. 3. To measure or indicate by vibrations or oscillations; as, A pendulum vibrates seconds. *4. To throw with a vibratory motion; to launch, to hurl. (A Latinism.) "A glorious people vibrated again The lightning of the nations." Shelley: Ode to Liberty. vi-bra-tile, a. [Lat. vibratilis , from vibratus , pa. par. of vibro to vibrate (q. v.); Fr. vibratile .] vibratile-cilia, s . pl . [CILIA, 3.]