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

Recent Examples on the Web 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

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'surface wave.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.