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# oscillate

«oscillate» in Mova's school dictionary: **To swing or move back and forth regularly, like a pendulum** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

verb (oscillate, oscillates, oscillated, oscillating)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To swing or move back and forth regularly, like a pendulum. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oscillate/#m1)

2) To keep changing between two feelings, ideas or states, as in "oscillate between hope and fear". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oscillate/#m2)

3) (science) Of electric current or waves, to change direction or strength in a regular rhythm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oscillate/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

Used in science (pendulums, springs, vibrations and sound waves oscillate; a fan that oscillates turns from side to side) and in stories or formal writing to show someone changing their mind back and forth.

### examples

- A pendulum oscillates from side to side. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oscillate/#x1)
- The fan oscillates so it cools the whole room. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oscillate/#x2)
- Guitar strings oscillate when you pluck them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oscillate/#x3)
- His mood oscillated between happy and grumpy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oscillate/#x4)
- The price oscillated between £5 and £6 all week. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oscillate/#x5)
- The spring oscillated up and down after we let go. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oscillate/#x6)

### note

Spelling: double s, double l: os-cil-late. Pronounced "OS-il-ate". Noun "oscillation". Similar: "swing", "vibrate", "waver".

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «oscillate» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oscillate/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.