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wavelength

[weyv-lengkth, -length, -lenth]

noun

Physics. the distance, measured in the direction of propagation of a wave, between two successive points in the wave that are characterized by the same phase of oscillation.

Idiom

on the same wavelength, in sympathy or rapport: We seemed to be on the same wavelength from the moment we met.

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Wavelength is always a great word to know.

So is energy. Does it mean:

the property of a system that diminishes when the system does work on any other system, by an amount equal to the work so done

an instrument that produces a graphic, visible representation of sound

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Also, wave length.

Origin:
1855–60; wave + length

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To wavelength

Example Sentences

When stimulated by light at a proper wavelength, they cascade down to a lower state, emitting light waves of a uniform wavelength.

It cannot ever have a frequency of zero nor a wavelength of zero.

Existing lasers small enough to fit on computer chips have difficulty generating photons of the right wavelength.

EXPAND

When stimulated by light at a proper wavelength, they cascade down to a lower state, emitting light waves of a uniform wavelength.

It cannot ever have a frequency of zero nor a wavelength of zero.

Existing lasers small enough to fit on computer chips have difficulty generating photons of the right wavelength.

The researchers then varied the wavelength and intensity of the signal light and gauged the bats' reactions.

The real destructive power of tsunamis lies not in excessive height, but in their wavelength.

Because this wavelength of light doesn't travel far underwater, a dark red squid is effectively invisible.

When two people experience a deep connection, they're informally described as being on the same wavelength.

The higher the energy of a photon, the shorter is its wavelength.

Lasers all work in much the same way: amplifying light into a concentrated beam of a single wavelength or colour.

L-band refers to the wavelength of the radar signal.

Fighting gravitational clumping would take a wavelength of a few dozen light-years.

Wavelength imagines a theater-and-satellite-linked world with the capability to show any film at any time.

Ruska sought a form of radiation with a shorter and therefore more discriminating wavelength.

Being smaller than the wavelength of light, they absorb light in a different way from a solid surface.

The metal chosen depends on the wavelength of infrared that is being detected.

The experiment also showed that mouse brains are flexible enough to receive and make use of the additional wavelength information.

Spitzer is still snapping photos in the two shorter wavelength bands.

To erase errors the laser beam had to have a wavelength that was absorbed by ink but not by paper.

As if everyone were on her own wavelength and communication were forbidden.

Each dark line indicates a wavelength of light soaked up by gases at the star's surface.

The corresponding wavelength would be measured in a few fermis.

Mirasol displays work by modulating an optical cavity to reflect the desired wavelength of light.

The definition also affects the units of force, wavelength and radio frequency.

Just beyond the color red, the longest wavelength of visible light, is the infrared.

All of the spectral lines are thus shifted towards the long wavelength part of the spectrum, or to the red end of the spectrum.

Each filter lets in a different wavelength of light, letting planetary scientists piece together colored versions of the images.

The length and strength of the bonding was controlled by the intensity and wavelength of the laser.

When synchrotron x-ray beams penetrate an object, different materials can modify their wavelength shapes in various ways.

What matters is the wavelength and the energy of the light radiation.

Infrared light has a long wavelength and is at the weaker end of the rainbow, below red.

The image, taken in visible and infrared light, showcases the camera's broad wavelength range.

Light diffuses and grows weaker over distance because it's not all of the same wavelength.

Anyone who's all thumbs can visit her local hair stylist, who will put her on the right wavelength.

We are clearly on the exact same wavelength on this issue.

Try to focus it to a point much smaller than one wavelength and.

Measure the wavelength of microwaves after partially nuking a dish layered with marshmallows.

Their relatively short wavelength makes the transmission equipment compact and the antennas small.

Normally, a laser's wavelength is fixed by its atoms and the distance between electron orbits.

It is expected that artificial emissions would be concentrated into a far narrower wavelength than that observed.

Gravity can bend a light ray and will alter its wavelength but it can never slow it down.

Gravitational red shift wavelength dilation proves gravity is produced by the absorption of time by matter.

The reflected wavelength is proportional to the cavity's depth.

Now you're on the wavelength of the young experimental designers who have been showing their fall collections here this week.

When they fall back to a lower state a photon is emitted, and the wavelength of the photon determines the color.

These photons in turn cause other photons to be emitted, of the same wavelength and phase and traveling in the same.

The spokes are thought to be composed of small icy particles about the size of the wavelength of visible light.

The second wavelength causes a repel effect that discourages advancing aggressors.

Their edge of bitterness tamed by salt seems to be on the same wavelength as the wines.

Earth, being of lower temperature than the sun, emits longer wavelength energy.

The wobble produces a small change in the wavelength of a star's light.

As findings in recent years have demonstrated, however, color is in the mind as well as the wavelength.

It would be helpful to know the gradients of the false color wavelength mapping.

Curchack is an inventive performance artist who operates on his creative wavelength.

My lobes are about to be bathed with precise wavelength patterns that are supposed to affect my mind in a.

Nanotechnology companies have created zinc oxide particles that are smaller than the wavelength of light.

The same experiments performed on the shells of a sister species didn't make its shells glow using any wavelength of light.

Dumont's wavelength tend to dismiss his work as pretentious, glum and boring.

Most recently, he has focused on wavelength division.

Adamsdale quickly gets the audience on his wavelength of inspired zaniness and keeps building from there.

When that happens, those lasers are out of luck, because they only fire at one particular wavelength.

The blue light, which has a wavelength slightly longer than ultraviolet light, does not damage the skin as sun exposure can.

The infrared light emitted by the planet is particularly strong at a wavelength of about four microns.

Adding to the complexity is a wide range of size and shape requirements, which change with the wavelength of the signal.

Infrared light has a different wavelength and will not focus where visible light does.

Here were two dancers on exactly the same wavelength.

Almost by reflex, she reached out and changed the wavelength of her windows.

His is a breathtaking and stern performance by a fearless actor on his own wavelength.

Each pixel captured a slightly different wavelength than the previous pixel.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

wavelength (ˈweɪvˌlɛŋθ)

—n
1.	λ the distance, measured in the direction of propagation, between two points of the same phase in consecutive cycles of a wave
2.	the wavelength of the carrier wave used by a particular broadcasting station
3.	informal on someone's wavelength, on the same wavelength having similar views, feelings, or thoughts (as someone else)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

wavelength

1850, "distance between peaks of a wave," from wave (n.) + length. Originally of spectra; radio sense is attested by 1925. Fig. sense of "mental harmony" is recorded from 1927, on analogy of radio waves.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

wavelength wave·length (wāv'lěngkth', -lěngth')
n.

Symbol λ The distance between one peak or crest of a wave of light, heat, or other energy and the next corresponding peak or crest.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

wavelength

(wāv'lěngkth') Pronunciation Key
The distance between one peak or crest of a wave and the next peak or crest. It is equal to the speed of the wave divided by its frequency, and to the speed of a wave times its period.

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

wavelength definition

The distance between crests (or troughs) of a wave.

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Rayleigh scattering absorption edge blue chromaticity decametric dispersive power

Slang

on the same wavelength

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Quote Of The Day

"Speech belongs half to the speaker, half to the listener. The latter must prepare to receive it according to the motion it takes."

-Michel de Montaigne

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