fluctuation - Definition | Dictionary definition of fluctuation

Definition of fluctuation

a wave motion

"the fluctuations of the sea"

Type of:: undulation, wave
(physics) a movement up and down or back and forth

an instance of change; the rate or magnitude of change

Types:: show 11 types...; hide 11 types...; vicissitude
a variation in circumstances or fortune at different times in your life or in the development of something; allomerism
(chemistry) variability in chemical composition without variation in crystalline form; departure, deviation, difference, divergence
a variation that deviates from the standard or norm; discrepancy, variance, variant
an event that departs from expectations; driftage
the deviation (by a vessel or aircraft) from its intended course due to drifting; flection, flexion, inflection
deviation from a straight or normal course; permutation, replacement, substitution, switch, transposition
an event in which one thing is substituted for another; business cycle, trade cycle
recurring fluctuations in economic activity consisting of recession and recovery and growth and decline; daily variation
fluctuations that occur between one day and the next; diurnal variation
fluctuations that occur during each day; tide
something that may increase or decrease (like the tides of the sea)

Type of:: alteration, change, modification
an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another

the quality of being unsteady and subject to changes

"he kept a record of price fluctuations"

Types:: scintillation
the twinkling of the stars caused when changes in the density of the earth's atmosphere produce uneven refraction of starlight

Type of:: irregularity, unregularity
not characterized by a fixed principle or rate; at irregular intervals