Ŏs'çil-lāte, v. i.

v. i. [imp. & p. p. OSCILLATED; p. pr. & vb. n. OSCILLATING.] [Lat. oscillare, oscillatum, from oscillum, a swing; It. oscillare, Sp. oscilar, Fr. osciller.] To move backward and forward; to vibrate; to swing; to sway; hence, to vary or fluctuate between fixed limits.

The amount of superior families oscillates rather than changes, that is, it fluctuates within fixed limits. De Quincey.

Oscillating engine, a steam-engine, whose cylinder, instead of being permanently fixed in a perpendicular or other direction, oscillates on trunnions. Weale.