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Wave vs. Current — What's the Difference?

Wave vs. Current — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Wave and Current

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Wave

In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities, sometimes as described by a wave equation. In physical waves, at least two field quantities in the wave medium are involved.

Current

Belonging to the present time; happening or being used or done now
Keep abreast of current events
I started my current job in 2001

Wave

Move one's hand to and fro in greeting or as a signal
He waved to me from the train

Current

A body of water or air moving in a definite direction, especially through a surrounding body of water or air in which there is less movement
Ocean currents

Wave

Move to and fro with a swaying motion while remaining fixed to one point
The flag waved in the wind
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Current

A flow of electricity which results from the ordered directional movement of electrically charged particles
This completes the circuit so that a current flows to the lamp
Magnetic fields are produced by currents flowing in the cables

Wave

Style (hair) so that it curls slightly
Her hair had been carefully waved for the evening

Current

The general tendency or course of events or opinion
The student movement formed a distinct current of protest

Wave

A long body of water curling into an arched form and breaking on the shore
He was swept out to sea by a freak wave

Current

Belonging to the present time; present-day
Current events.
Current leaders.
My current address.

Wave

A sudden occurrence of or increase in a phenomenon, feeling, or emotion
Fear came over me in waves
A wave of strikes had paralysed the government

Current

Being in progress now
Current negotiations.

Wave

A gesture or signal made by moving one's hand to and fro
He gave a little wave and walked off

Current

Commonly accepted or used; prevalent
Current fashions.
Current technology.

Wave

A slightly curling lock of hair
His hair was drying in unruly waves

Current

Passing from one to another; circulating, as money or a rumor
Current bills and coins.

Wave

A periodic disturbance of the particles of a substance which may be propagated without net movement of the particles, such as in the passage of undulating motion, heat, or sound.

Current

Running; flowing.

Wave

A member of the women's reserve of the US Navy, organized during World War II, but now no longer a separate branch.

Current

A steady, smooth onward flow or movement
A current of air from a fan.
A current of spoken words.

Wave

A ridge or swell moving through or along the surface of a large body of water.

Current

The part of a body of liquid or gas that has a continuous onward movement
Rowed out into the river's swift current.

Wave

A small ridge or swell moving across the interface of two fluids and dependent on surface tension.

Current

A general tendency, movement, or course.

Wave

Often waves The sea
Vanished beneath the waves.

Current

A flow of electric charge.

Wave

A moving curve or succession of curves in or on a surface; an undulation
Waves of wheat in the wind.

Current

The amount of electric charge flowing past a specified circuit point per unit time, usually expressed in amperes.

Wave

A curve or succession of curves, as in the hair.

Current

The generally unidirectional movement of a gas or fluid.

Wave

A curved shape, outline, or pattern.

Current

The part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction, especially (oceanography) nocap=a.

Wave

A movement up and down or back and forth
A wave of the hand.

Current

(electricity) the amount of electric charge flowing in each unit of time.

Wave

A surge or rush, as of sensation
A wave of nausea.
A wave of indignation.

Current

A tendency or a course of events

Wave

A sudden great rise, as in activity or intensity
A wave of panic selling on the stock market.

Current

Existing or occurring at the moment.
Current events
Current leaders
Current negotiations

Wave

A rising trend that involves large numbers of individuals
A wave of conservatism.

Current

Generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment.
Current affairs
Current bills and coins
Current fashions

Wave

One of a succession of mass movements
The first wave of settlers.

Current

(India) Electric; of or relating to electricity.
Current bill
Current shock

Wave

A maneuver in which fans at a sports event simulate an ocean wave by rising quickly in sequence with arms upraised and then quickly sitting down again in a continuous rolling motion.

Current

(obsolete) Running or moving rapidly.

Wave

A widespread, persistent meteorological condition, especially of temperature
A heat wave.

Current

Running or moving rapidly.
Like the current fire, that rennethUpon a cord.
To chase a creature that was current thenIn these wild woods, the hart with golden horns.

Wave

A disturbance that travels through a medium. Energy is transferred by a wave from one region of the medium to another without causing any permanent displacement of the medium.

Current

Now passing, as time; as, the current month.

Wave

A graphic representation of the variation of such a disturbance with time.

Current

Passing from person to person, or from hand to hand; circulating through the community; generally received; common; as, a current coin; a current report; current history.
That there was current money in Abraham's time is past doubt.
Your fire-new stamp of honor is scarce current.
His current value, which is less or more as men have occasion for him.

Wave

A single cycle of a periodic wave.

Current

Commonly estimated or acknowledged.

Wave

To move freely back and forth or up and down in the air, as branches in the wind.

Current

Fitted for general acceptance or circulation; authentic; passable.
O Buckingham, now do I play the touchTo try if thou be current gold indeed.

Wave

To make a signal with an up-and-down or back-and-forth movement of the hand or an object held in the hand
Waved as she drove by.

Current

A flowing or passing; onward motion. Hence: A body of fluid moving continuously in a certain direction; a stream; esp., the swiftest part of it; as, a current of water or of air; that which resembles a stream in motion; as, a current of electricity.
Two such silver currents, when they join,Do glorify the banks that bound them in.
The surface of the ocean is furrowed by currents, whose direction . . . the navigator should know.

Wave

To have an undulating or wavy form; curve or curl
Her hair waves naturally.

Current

General course; ordinary procedure; progressive and connected movement; as, the current of time, of events, of opinion, etc.

Wave

To cause to move back and forth or up and down, either once or repeatedly
She waved a fan before her face.

Current

A flow of electricity through a conductor;
The current was measured in amperes

Wave

To move or swing as in giving a signal
He waved his hand.

Current

A steady flow (usually from natural causes);
The raft floated downstream on the current
He felt a stream of air

Wave

To signal or express by waving the hand or an object held in the hand
We waved goodbye.

Current

Dominant course (suggestive of running water) of successive events or ideas;
Two streams of development run through American history
Stream of consciousness
The flow of thought
The current of history

Wave

To signal (a person) by using the hand to move in a specified direction
The police officer waved the motorist into the right lane.

Current

Occurring in or belonging to the present time;
Current events
The current topic
Current negotiations
Current psychoanalytic theories
The ship's current position

Wave

To arrange into curves, curls, or undulations
Wave one's hair.

Wave

(intransitive) To move back and forth repeatedly and somewhat loosely.
The flag waved in the gentle breeze.

Wave

(intransitive) To move one’s hand back and forth (generally above the shoulders) in greeting or departure.

Wave

To call attention to, or give a direction or command to, by a waving motion, as of the hand; to signify by waving; to beckon; to signal; to indicate.
I waved goodbye from across the room.

Wave

(intransitive) To have an undulating or wavy form.

Wave

(transitive) To raise into inequalities of surface; to give an undulating form or surface to.

Wave

(transitive) To produce waves to the hair.

Wave

To swing and miss at a pitch.
Jones waves at strike one.

Wave

(transitive) To cause to move back and forth repeatedly.
The starter waved the flag to begin the race.

Wave

To signal (someone or something) with a waving movement.

Wave

To fluctuate; to waver; to be in an unsettled state.

Wave

To move like a wave, or by floating; to waft.

Wave

To generate a wave.

Wave

Obsolete spelling of waive

Wave

A moving disturbance in the level of a body of liquid; an undulation.
The wave traveled from the center of the lake before breaking on the shore.

Wave

(poetic) The ocean.

Wave

(physics) A moving disturbance in the energy level of a field.
Gravity waves, while predicted by theory for decades, have been notoriously difficult to detect.

Wave

A shape that alternatingly curves in opposite directions.
Her hair had a nice wave to it.
Sine wave

Wave

Any of a number of species of moths in the geometrid subfamily Sterrhinae, which have wavy markings on the wings.

Wave

A loose back-and-forth movement, as of the hands.
He dismissed her with a wave of the hand.

Wave

(figuratively) A sudden, but temporary, uptick in something.
A wave of shoppers stampeded through the door when the store opened for its Christmas discount special.
A wave of retirees began moving to the coastal area.
A wave of emotion overcame her when she thought about her son who was killed in battle.

Wave

One of the successive swarms of enemies sent to attack the player in certain games.

Wave

(usually "the wave") A group activity in a crowd imitating a wave going through water, where people in successive parts of the crowd stand and stretch upward, then sit.

Wave

See Waive.

Wave

To play loosely; to move like a wave, one way and the other; to float; to flutter; to undulate.
His purple robes waved careless to the winds.
Where the flags of three nations has successively waved.

Wave

To be moved to and fro as a signal.

Wave

To fluctuate; to waver; to be in an unsettled state; to vacillate.
He waved indifferently 'twixt doing them neither good nor harm.

Wave

To move one way and the other; to brandish.

Wave

To raise into inequalities of surface; to give an undulating form a surface to.
Horns whelked and waved like the enridged sea.

Wave

To move like a wave, or by floating; to waft.

Wave

To call attention to, or give a direction or command to, by a waving motion, as of the hand; to signify by waving; to beckon; to signal; to indicate.
Look, with what courteous actionIt waves you to a more removed ground.
She spoke, and bowing wavedDismissal.

Wave

An advancing ridge or swell on the surface of a liquid, as of the sea, resulting from the oscillatory motion of the particles composing it when disturbed by any force their position of rest; an undulation.
The wave behind impels the wave before.

Wave

A vibration propagated from particle to particle through a body or elastic medium, as in the transmission of sound; an assemblage of vibrating molecules in all phases of a vibration, with no phase repeated; a wave of vibration; an undulation. See Undulation.

Wave

Water; a body of water.
Build a ship to save thee from the flood,I 'll furnish thee with fresh wave, bread, and wine.

Wave

Unevenness; inequality of surface.

Wave

A waving or undulating motion; a signal made with the hand, a flag, etc.

Wave

The undulating line or streak of luster on cloth watered, or calendered, or on damask steel.

Wave

Something resembling or likened to a water wave, as in rising unusually high, in being of unusual extent, or in progressive motion; a swelling or excitement, as of feeling or energy; a tide; flood; period of intensity, usual activity, or the like; as, a wave of enthusiasm; waves of applause.

Wave

One of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)

Wave

A movement like that of an ocean wave;
A wave of settlers
Troops advancing in waves

Wave

(physics) a movement up and down or back and forth

Wave

Something that rises rapidly;
A wave of emotion swept over him
There was a sudden wave of buying before the market closed
A wave of conservatism in the country led by the hard right

Wave

The act of signaling by a movement of the hand

Wave

A hairdo that creates undulations in the hair

Wave

An undulating curve

Wave

A persistent and widespread unusual weather condition (especially of unusual temperatures)

Wave

A member of the women's reserve of the United States Navy; originally organized during World War II but now no longer a separate branch

Wave

Signal with the hands or nod;
She waved to her friends
He waved his hand hospitably

Wave

Move or swing back and forth;
She waved her gun

Wave

Move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion;
The curtains undulated
The waves rolled towards the beach

Wave

Twist or roll into coils or ringlets;
Curl my hair, please

Wave

Set waves in;
She asked the hairdresser to wave her hair

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