Meaning & use
vibrate
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To shake or move with very small, fast movements, often making a slight sound.
Grammar: No object: the phone vibrated. You do not 'vibrate the phone' in this sense.
Patterns
- vibrate slightly
- vibrate loudly
- vibrate against something
My phone vibrated twice during the meeting.
The whole floor vibrated as the heavy truck went past.
The strings vibrate when you pluck them, which produces the note.
verbtransitivetechnical
To cause something to shake with small, fast movements.
Grammar: Takes an object: the machine vibrates the surface. Often used in technical writing.
Patterns
- vibrate something
- something vibrates the air
The motor vibrates the whole frame, so the screws come loose.
The speaker vibrates the air and creates sound waves.
Engineers vibrate the concrete to remove trapped air bubbles.
verbintransitivefigurativeliterary
To seem full of a strong feeling or quality, as if shaking with it.
Grammar: Often followed by 'with': the room vibrated with excitement.
Patterns
- vibrate with something
- vibrate with energy
The stadium vibrated with excitement before the final whistle.
Her voice vibrated with anger as she repeated the question.
The old town vibrates with life during the summer festival.
Word forms
| third person singular | vibrates |
|---|---|
| past tense | vibrated |
| past participle | vibrated |
| -ing form | vibrating |
Common combinations
- vibrate gently
- The phone vibrated gently on the wooden table.
- vibrate with excitement
- The crowd vibrated with excitement as the band appeared.
- vibrate at a frequency
- The crystal vibrates at a very high frequency.
- make something vibrate
- Loud bass can make the windows vibrate.
- vibrate slightly
- The handle vibrated slightly, so I knew someone was outside.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shake
- Stronger and more general; a whole object moves noticeably, while 'vibrate' suggests small, rapid movements.
- tremble
- Usually describes people or voices shaking from fear, cold or weakness, not machines or strings.
- quiver
- A gentle, often literary word for a light shaking movement, common with lips, leaves or voices.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: vibrate or vibration? vibrate or vacillate?
vibrate vs vibration
'Vibrate' is the verb and 'vibration' is the noun: the phone vibrates, and you feel the vibration.
vibrate vs vacillate
'Vacillate' means to keep changing your mind; it sounds similar but has nothing to do with movement.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
In the main sense 'vibrate' is intransitive, so the phone does the vibrating: 'The phone vibrated in her pocket.' The other options wrongly make it transitive with a person as the subject.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vibrate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.