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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

vibrate.

To shake with small, rapid movements to and fro.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/vaɪˈbɹeɪt/UK/ˈvaɪ.bɹeɪt/US
  1. To shake with small, rapid movements to and fro.

    intransitive
  2. To resonate.

    intransitive
    Her mind was vibrating with excitement.
  3. To brandish; to swing to and fro.

    transitive
  4. To mark or measure by moving to and fro.

    transitive
  5. To affect with vibratory motion; to set in vibration.

    transitive
  6. To please or impress someone.

    dated · slang · transitive
  7. To use vibrato.

    intransitive
  8. To pleasure someone using a vibrator.

    slang · transitive
Where this word comes from

The adjective (then also used as a participle) is first attested in 1420, in Middle English, the verb in 1620; partly from Middle English vibrat(e) (“reverberant”), partly directly borrowed from Latin vibrātus, perfect passive participle of vibrō (“to agitate, set in tremulous motion”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to oscillate, swing”) or *weyb-.

noun/vaɪˈbɹeɪt/UK/ˈvaɪ.bɹeɪt/US
  1. The setting, on a portable electronic device, that causes it to vibrate rather than sound any (or most) needed alarms.

    uncountable
    Please put your cellphones on vibrate for the duration of the meeting.
Where this word comes from

The adjective (then also used as a participle) is first attested in 1420, in Middle English, the verb in 1620; partly from Middle English vibrat(e) (“reverberant”), partly directly borrowed from Latin vibrātus, perfect passive participle of vibrō (“to agitate, set in tremulous motion”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to oscillate, swing”) or *weyb-.

adj/vaɪˈbɹeɪt/UK/ˈvaɪ.bɹeɪt/US
  1. Vibrating with (something).

    rare
Where this word comes from

The adjective (then also used as a participle) is first attested in 1420, in Middle English, the verb in 1620; partly from Middle English vibrat(e) (“reverberant”), partly directly borrowed from Latin vibrātus, perfect passive participle of vibrō (“to agitate, set in tremulous motion”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to oscillate, swing”) or *weyb-.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.