Definition

1. Verb (intransitive):

   • To move with a smooth, wavelike motion; to rise and fall or sway gently in a manner resembling waves.
   • To have a wavy form or appearance; to be shaped with gentle curves.

2. Verb (transitive):

   • To cause to move in a wavy pattern; to give a wavy form or appearance to something.

3. Adjective:

   • Having a wavy surface, edge, or appearance; marked by gentle, rolling curves.

Usage and Examples

• Verb (intransitive):

  • The flag undulated gently in the breeze.
  • The wheat field undulated across the hillside.
  • Her voice undulated with emotion as she told the story.

• Verb (transitive):

  • The wind undulated the surface of the lake.
  • The artist skillfully undulated the metal to create a flowing sculpture.

• Adjective:

  • The plant has beautiful, undulate leaves.
  • They walked along the undulate path through the dunes.

Advanced Usage

• Scientific/Technical Context: In biology and geology, 'undulate' describes specific wavy patterns, such as leaf margins or rock strata.
  • The fossil exhibited an undulate suture pattern.
• Descriptive Writing: Used to create vivid imagery of movement or form in literature.
  • The snake's body undulated rhythmically as it moved across the sand.

Variants and Related Words

• Undulation (noun): A wavelike motion or form; a gentle rise and fall.
  • The undulation of the terrain made cycling challenging.
• Undulating (adjective or present participle): Moving in or having waves.
  • We drove through miles of undulating countryside.
• Undulatory (adjective): Relating to or resembling undulation.
  • The theory describes light as an undulatory phenomenon.

Synonyms

• Verb: ripple, wave, roll, swell, fluctuate, sway, billow.
• Adjective: wavy, sinuous, rolling, rippled.

Antonyms

• Verb: stagnate, remain still.
• Adjective: flat, straight, even, level.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• Undulate like a snake: To move with sinuous, winding motions.
  • The dancer's arms undulated like a snake.
• (To move) in undulating waves: To progress in a series of smooth, wave-like motions.
  • The crowd moved in undulating waves across the plaza.

Adjective

1. having a wavy margin and rippled surface

Verb

1. increase and decrease in volume or pitch, as if in waves
   • The singer's voice undulated
2. move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion
   • The curtains undulated
   • the waves rolled towards the beach
3. occur in soft rounded shapes
   • The hills rolled past
4. stir up (water) so as to form ripples