surface wave
noun
plural surface waves
: an earthquake vibration propagated near the surface of the earth compare body wave
Examples of surface wave in a Sentence
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These were: P-waves, which oscillate back and forth similar to how a sound wave propagates; S-waves which oscillate up and down, perpendicular to the direction of travel; and surface waves, which travel along the surface of Mars similar to ripples in a pond.
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Keith Cooper, Space.com, 17 Mar. 2025
Other interests include finding a way to provide downlink communication to a submerged receiver, how to deal with larger surface waves, and how to improve the data rates.
—IEEE Spectrum, 24 Aug. 2018
The last bit of shaking felt here may have resulted from longer-period surface waves coming in later, Page said.
—Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2024
The surface waves were obvious and adversely affected all the swimmers.
—Natasha Dye, Peoplemag, 3 Aug. 2024
With this beefed-up Irish seismic network and data from seismometers in Britain, Lebedev and his colleagues previously used surface wave tomography to map the thickness of the lithosphere in Britain and Ireland.
—Elise Cutts, Discover Magazine, 29 June 2023
In addition, the fact that 2D photonic time crystals can amplify surface waves is potentially significant for next-generation wireless telecommunications.
—IEEE Spectrum, 17 Apr. 2023
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Keith Cooper, Space.com, 17 Mar. 2025
Other interests include finding a way to provide downlink communication to a submerged receiver, how to deal with larger surface waves, and how to improve the data rates.
—IEEE Spectrum, 24 Aug. 2018
The last bit of shaking felt here may have resulted from longer-period surface waves coming in later, Page said.
—Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2024
The surface waves were obvious and adversely affected all the swimmers.
—Natasha Dye, Peoplemag, 3 Aug. 2024
With this beefed-up Irish seismic network and data from seismometers in Britain, Lebedev and his colleagues previously used surface wave tomography to map the thickness of the lithosphere in Britain and Ireland.
—Elise Cutts, Discover Magazine, 29 June 2023
In addition, the fact that 2D photonic time crystals can amplify surface waves is potentially significant for next-generation wireless telecommunications.
—IEEE Spectrum, 17 Apr. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Surface wave.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surface%20wave. Accessed 17 Jul. 2025.
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