pendulum
noun
Simple meaning
A body suspended from a fixed support so that it swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pehnjuhluhmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɛnd͡ʒələm
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
clocksmechanics
A body suspended from a fixed support so that it swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity, commonly used to regulate various devices such as clocks.
A lamp, etc. suspended from a ceiling.
A watch's guard-ring by which it is attached to a chain.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A body suspended from a fixed support so that it swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity, commonly used to regulate various devices such as clocks.
Used this way, pendulum is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A clock regulated by a pendulum.
A watch with a balance wheel having a fake pendulum attached to it.
Pendulum consisting of an actual object allowed to rotate freely around a horizontal axis.
Pendulum with a long wire.
A ballistic pendulum consisting of a suspended gun.
Epiphytic fern with straplike usually twisted fronds of tropical Asia and Polynesia and America.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API (CC BY-SA 3.0). Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.