electromagnetic wave

noun

|Updated on: 21 Jul 2018

Definition of electromagnetic wave

: one of the waves that are propagated by simultaneous periodic variations of electric and magnetic field intensity and that include radio waves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays

See electromagnetic wave defined for kids

Recent Examples of electromagnetic wave from the Web

The Miele Dialog oven is a full oven, not a countertop oven, that also holds the promise of precisely controlling the cooking process, through electromagnetic waves that are emitted at specific frequencies.

— lauren goode, WIRED, "Brava Hopes to Heat Up the 'Smart Kitchen' With a $995 Oven," 10 July 2018
Another researcher figured out how to take math that could describe electromagnetic waves and modify it to describe gravitational waves.

— john timmer, Ars Technica, "Gravitational waves and the slow pace of scientific revolutions," 30 June 2018
If invisible electromagnetic waves traveling at the speed of light could bring Fibber McGee’s voice into your living room, perhaps spirit photography was possible as well.

— mary carole mccauley, baltimoresun.com, "Behind the magic of Harry Houdini at the Jewish Museum of Maryland," 29 June 2018
Previous claims have linked electromagnetic waves and other environmental factors to the disease, but Greaves dismissed this link in his paper.

— meera senthilingam and jessie yeung, CNN, "A germ-free childhood could trigger leukemia, scientist suggests," 22 May 2018
Time crystals behave in strange ways when they’re hit with electromagnetic waves.

— avery thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Scientists Discover 'Time Crystals' Growing Right Under Their Noses," 4 May 2018
According to a press release, NASA and The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) collected the radar data by sending electromagnetic waves through the ice and then watching what bounced back.

— julissa treviño, Smithsonian, "Super Salty Lakes Found Deep Below Canadian Ice Cap," 16 Apr. 2018
Physicists have also observed topological protection in electromagnetic waves.

— davide castelvecchi, Scientific American, "Physicists Harness Twisted Mathematics to Make Powerful Laser," 5 Feb. 2018
The scheme depends on the fact that light can be polarized, so that the electromagnetic waves oscillate either in a horizontal or a vertical plane.

— davide castelvecchi, Scientific American, "The Quantum Internet Has Arrived (and It Hasn’t)," 16 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'electromagnetic wave.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.