perturbation

noun

per·tur·ba·tion ˌpər-tər-ˈbā-shən

ˌpər-ˌtər-

Synonyms of perturbation next

: the action of perturbing : the state of being perturbed

: a disturbance of motion, course, arrangement, or state of equilibrium

especially : a disturbance of the regular and usually elliptical course of motion of a celestial body that is produced by some force additional to that which causes its regular motion

perturbational

ˌpər-tər-ˈbā-shnəl

-shə-nᵊl

ˌpər-ˌtər-

adjective

Examples of perturbation in a Sentence

a perturbation in the planet's orbit in her perturbation she kept calling her son, a freshman, to see if everything was all right at college

Recent Examples on the Web Such a direct comparison is particularly valuable because scientists believe that near-Earth asteroids hail from the main belt, having been kicked deeper into the solar system by past gravitational perturbations. —

Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 1 Nov. 2023 The resulting magnetic perturbations of their atomic nuclei, compiled and displayed by software, can reveal the arrangement of a protein’s atoms to a discerning eye. —

Quanta Magazine, 10 Oct. 2023 Researchers have previously proposed harnessing those perturbations to convert the thousands of kilometers of underground cable into sensitive seismic arrays. —

IEEE Spectrum, 14 Aug. 2023 The images shown to the subjects during the experiment had the potential to be an unmodified image, an adversarial image, an image where the perturbation layer was flipped upside down before being applied, or an image where the perturbation later was applied to a different image entirely. —

IEEE Spectrum, 28 Feb. 2018 One investigator - or a computer program - methodically perturbs data values, data labels or both, often with several alternative versions of perturbation. —

Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 3 Nov. 2015 The timing of these pulses is extremely precise and predictable—so any slight perturbations in these pulses would be evidence of gravitational waves rippling through spacetime, changing the distance between Earth and the pulsar. —

Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 June 2023 Famous in science and science fiction for orbital perturbations and chaotic phenomena, it’s recently become a concern of atomic experts and military planners. —

William J. Broad, New York Times, 26 June 2023 The scientists attributed one in four mass mortality events to disease (like the avian flu), one in five to human perturbation (like contamination), and about one in six to biotoxicity (like harmful algae blooms). —

Marion Renault, The New Republic, 3 May 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'perturbation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.