The act of brandishing; the act of moving or state of being moved one way and the other in quick succession.

In mechanics, a regular reciprocal motion of a body suspended; a motion consisting of continual reciprocations or returns; as of the pendulum of a chronometer. This is frequently called oscillation. The number of vibrations in a given time depends on the length of the vibrating body; a pendulum three feet long, makes only ten vibrations while one of nine inches makes twenty. The vibrations of a pendulum are somewhat slower at or near the equator than in remote latitudes. The vibrations of a pendulum are isochronal in the same climate.

In physics, alternate or reciprocal motion; as the vibrations of the nervous fluid, by which sensation has been supposed to be produced, by impressions of external objects propagated thus to the brain.

In music, the motion of a chord, or the undulation of any body, by which sound is produced. The acuteness, elevation and gravity of sound, depend on the length of the chord and its tension.