noun

• 1Movement back and forth at a regular speed.

  ‘the natural oscillation of a spring’

  More example sentences

  • ‘the oscillations of a pendulum’
  • ‘In such case, the valves should be closed just enough to stop oscillation.’
  • ‘The hammer area of rocker arms is hardened progressively or by oscillation.’
  • ‘The progression of the mechanical oscillation itself is conditioned by the grain compatibility of harmonics.’
  • ‘The lack of damping property also caused oscillations of relatively high frequency.’
  • ‘The mechanical oscillation is driven by the energy of the chemical reaction shown in Fig.1.’
  • ‘The oscillations induced by our rudder corrections got worse with every application, regardless of how smooth we tried to be.’
  • ‘In this case of applied displacement, the initial velocity was not equal to zero at the start of free oscillations.’
  • ‘The aircraft began a series of violent oscillations at 60 feet that would frighten even the dumbest pilot.’
  • ‘The eddies set up an oscillation that may be reinforced by the natural frequency of the structure.’
  • ‘It has bristles that oscillate at 7000 oscillations per minute.’
  • ‘The rest function as insulators, or dampers of mechanical oscillation.’
  • ‘The more highly accurate quartz clocks followed and depended on the oscillation of quartz crystal for control.’
  • ‘Acoustic cavitation involves the creation and oscillation of gas bubbles in a liquid.’
  • ‘This continues, and the oscillations build with every roll.’
  • ‘Four conspicuous jerks forwards, with slower retreats, were seen on one occasion to occur in exactly one minute, besides some minor oscillations.’
  • ‘The oscillations increased to 90 degrees, the flight films showing the vehicle swinging madly from side to side.’
  • ‘If the oscillations are not damped out, they could break the fragile lines of other suspended weights and become amplified.’
  • ‘During that time, the bridge had been engaging in a wide variety of different large-amplitude vertical oscillations, without the slightest sign of any torsional motion.’
  • ‘Because the oscillations of different filament pairs have different phases, oscillatory motion is not normally observable on the scale of a whole muscle fiber in steady conditions.’
  • ‘The oscillations began to dampen out after about three seconds, and once again I was in control of the aircraft.’

  Synonyms

  swinging, swing, swaying, swinging from side to side, swinging backwards and forwards, swinging back and forth, swinging to and fro, vibration

  wavering, fluctuation, see-sawing, vacillation, yo-yoing, variation

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1Variation or fluctuation between two extremes of opinion, action, or quality.
     ‘the plot's oscillation between bleak and comic elements’
     More example sentences

     • ‘During the revolution, inevitable oscillations will occur in the army, an internal struggle will take place.’
     • ‘That is where his oscillations are most unsettling.’
     • ‘These oscillations are the real moral hazard.’
     • ‘Interplay is the appropriate word to describe his unusual oscillation between reality and imagination.’
     • ‘The fact is, the wild oscillations in our business life will continue to get wilder and wilder, probably forever.’

• 2Physics
  Regular variation in magnitude or position around a central point.

  ‘There are many component failures in the transceiver which might produce the right amount of gain change for oscillations.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Recently, researchers harnessed the spins of electrons to create oscillations which they said suggested a new type of electronic clock.’
  • ‘To characterize the frequency domain of these oscillations, power spectral analyses were performed.’
  • ‘In this study the signal roughness is of secondary interest whereas signal oscillations and their frequencies are of primary interest.’
  • ‘If it were so, then the short-period oscillations should be confined to only one frequency.’