wavelength
nounUK /ˈweɪvlɛŋ(k)θ/ · US /ˈweɪvˌlɛŋ(k)θ/
Etymology From wave + length.
1
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics The length of a single cycle of a wave, as measured by the distance between one peak or trough of a wave and the next; it is often designated in physics as λ, and corresponds to the velocity of the wave divided by its frequency.
- I'd take requests on the telephone / I'm on a wavelength far from home1983, Wall of Voodoo, “Mexican Radio”, in Call of the West:
2
Figuratively A person's attitude and way of thinking as compared to another person's.
- I think you and I are on a different wavelength.
- And just when you mean to tell her / That you have no love to give her / Then she gets you on her wavelength / And she lets the river answer1967, Leonard Cohen, “Suzanne”:
- Derived terms
- Compton wavelength, de Broglie wavelength, medium-wavelength infrared radiation, multiwavelength, on the same wavelength, quarter-wavelength film, three-wavelength, two-wavelength