ripple - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

A ripple is a small wave on the surface of something, such as a ripple that forms a ring around the spot where you threw a pebble into the pond.

Ripple can also be a verb. For example, you might see raindrops ripple on top of a puddle. Ripple was first used in the 1670s to describe something that causes a ruffled surface, sort of like how water seems to momentarily gain texture as it's stirred. Ripple later came to describe a very small wave, but you've probably heard of the "ripple effect" in which tiny waves spread, setting off more and more waves.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: ripple

1	n v	a small wave on the surface of a liquid stir up (water) so as to form ripples
2	n	(electronics) an oscillation of small amplitude imposed on top of a steady value

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: ripple

1

n a small wave on the surface of a liquid

Synonyms:: riffle, rippling, wavelet

Type of:: moving ridge, wave
one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)

v stir up (water) so as to form ripples

Synonyms:: cockle, riffle, ruffle, undulate

Type of:: flow, flux
move or progress freely as if in a stream

v flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise

Synonyms:: babble, bubble, burble, guggle, gurgle

: gurgle
make sounds similar to gurgling water

Type of:: go, sound
make a certain noise or sound

2

n (electronics) an oscillation of small amplitude imposed on top of a steady value

Type of:: oscillation, vibration
(physics) a regular periodic variation in value about a mean