wave front
a surface, real or imaginary, that is the locus of all adjacent points at which the phase of oscillation is the same.
Origin of wave front
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use wave front in a sentence
Because as each wave front moves from air to water, it slows down.
Islands of Space | John W CampbellThe student will note that for the sake of greater precision we here say wave front instead of wave.
A Text-Book of Astronomy | George C. ComstockWith a dense prism, the wave-front of the shorter waves is more tilted towards the base than the wave-front of the longer waves.
The Mechanism of Life | Stphane LeducHence the wave-front is flattened, the curvature of the refracted wave being less than that of the original wave of diffusion.
The Mechanism of Life | Stphane LeducHence the wave-front is tilted towards the base of the prism, and this tilting is repeated when the wave-front leaves the prism.
The Mechanism of Life | Stphane Leduc
British Dictionary definitions for wavefront
/ (ˈweɪvˌfrʌnt) /
physics a surface associated with a propagating wave and passing through all points in the wave that have the same phase. It is usually perpendicular to the direction of propagation
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for wave front
The set of points in space reached by a wave or vibration at the same instant as the wave travels through a medium. Wave fronts generally form a continuous line or surface. The lines formed by crests of ripples on a pond, for example, correspond to curved wave fronts.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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