WAVE FRONT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wave front mean? 

• WAVE FRONT (noun)
  The noun WAVE FRONT has 2 senses:

1. all the points just reached by a wave as it propagates

2. (physics) an imaginary surface joining all points in space that are reached at the same instant by a wave propagating through a medium

  Familiarity information: WAVE FRONT used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WAVE FRONT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

All the points just reached by a wave as it propagates

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("wave front" is a kind of...):

propagation (the movement of a wave through a medium)

Holonyms ("wave front" is a part of...):

wave (a persistent and widespread unusual weather condition (especially of unusual temperatures))

Sense 2

Meaning:

(physics) an imaginary surface joining all points in space that are reached at the same instant by a wave propagating through a medium

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

wave front; wavefront

Hypernyms ("wave front" is a kind of...):

surface (the extended two-dimensional outer boundary of a three-dimensional object)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)