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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Fluctuate \Fluc"tu*ate\, verb (used with an object) To cause to move as a wave; to put in motion. [R.]
And fluctuate all the still perfume. --Tennyson.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Fluctuate \Fluc"tu*ate\, verb (used without an object) [imp. & p. p. {Fluctuated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Fluctuating}.] [L. fluctuatus, p. p. of fluctuare, to wave, fr. fluctus wave, fr. fluere, fluctum, to flow. See {Fluent}, and cf. {Flotilla}.]
1. To move as a wave; to roll hither and thither; to wave; to float backward and forward, as on waves; as, a fluctuating field of air. --Blackmore.
2. To move now in one direction and now in another; to be wavering or unsteady; to be irresolute or undetermined; to vacillate.
Syn: To waver; vacillate; hesitate; scruple.
Usage: To {Fluctuate}, {Vacillate}, {Waver}. -- Fluctuate is applied both to things and persons and denotes that they move as they are acted upon. The stocks fluctuate; a man fluctuates between conflicting influences. Vacillate and waver are applied to persons to represent them as acting themselves. A man vacillates when he goes backward and forward in his opinions and purposes, without any fixity of mind or principles. A man wavers when he shrinks back or hesitates at the approach of difficulty or danger. One who is fluctuating in his feelings is usually vacillating in resolve, and wavering in execution.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
fluctuate
verb
1: cause to fluctuate or move in a wave-like pattern
2: move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern; "the line on the monitor vacillated" [syn: {vacillate}, {waver}]
3: be unstable; have ups and downs; "The stock market fluctuates"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
55 Moby Thesaurus words for "fluctuate": alternate, back and fill, bob, bobble, careen, change, chop and change, coggle, dangle, dither, ebb and flow, equivocate, flounder, flutter, go through phases, intermit, lack regularity, librate, lurch, nutate, oscillate, pendulate, pitch, recur, reel, resonate, return, reverse, ring the changes, rock, roll, seesaw, shake, shift, shilly-shally, shuffle, stagger, swag, sway, swing, teeter, teeter-totter, tergiversate, toss, totter, turn, vacillate, vary, vibrate, wag, waggle, wave, waver, wax and wane, wobble
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