carrier wave
/ˈkæ.ɹɪ.ɚ weɪv/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.12 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A wave that can be modulated, either in amplitude, frequency, or phase, to carry or transmit images, music, speech, or other signals.
noun
Synonym of soliton (“a self-reinforcing pulse or travelling wave caused by any non-linear effect”).
Obsolete
Example Sentences
- "This invention relates to carrier wave signaling systems and more particularly to systems of multiplex telephony employing carrier waves wherein such carrier waves of distinctive frequencies are normally impressed upon the transmission medium. Such medium may comprise any of the natural media employed in radio transmission or a conductive transmission line of any kind."
- "I have a waterproof basket arranged on my operating table, and when the static waves come over it, they fall in. There is no trouble in receiving music, however, for the audio frequency voice waves are superimposed on a carrier wave. This carrier wave carries the music over the basket, without falling, into the set."
- "Means for continuously obtaining information sufficient to determine the instantaneous position of an airplane with respect to three ground points located at the vertices of a triangle, said means comprising a control station located at the first of said ground points, said control station comprising a local oscillator and means for radiating a first carrier wave modulated by the frequency of said local oscillator, [...]"
- "[T]he "wireless" already depended on a wave system as the medium; how could another wave system (the signal) be carried by the wave system of the medium? Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian, was one of the first to solve this problem. His idea was to superimpose the signal wave on the carrier wave: to "modulate" the carrier wave. This is the basic concept of radio and television. Since there are two variables associated with a wave—"amplitude" or strength, and "frequency" or "wavelength"—there were two possibilities for modulation: hence the current AM (Amplitude Modulation) and FM (Frequency Modulation) systems of broadcasting."
- "The same propagation through the same ether brought the rays of the sun's light from the sun to the earth, and the same carrier wave brought from the other side of the globe, from the oceans there, which were disturbed by the attraction of the sun and moon, those waves all round the coasts which were called tides. All these phenomena, from the tides and the wind to the rays of light and to the sounds of the telephone, were the motion of one simple phenomenon, the carrier wave, the wave of translation."
- "Noise is caused by a shock or stroke or beat given to some mass of matter. The shock tells on the mass of air near the struck body. It sends this mass of air into a heap near the struck body. This heap forms an air wave. [...] This wave is the carrier of the shock through great distances in the air, it travels with great speed. This "carrier wave" takes the shock of the stroke from afar, to the ear of the listener."
Etymology
From carrier + wave. Sense 2 (“soliton”) was coined by the Scottish civil engineer, naval architect, and shipbuilder John Scott Russell (1808–1882): see the quotations.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkæ.ɹɪ.ɚ weɪv/
- British English: /ˈkæ.ɹɪ.ə weɪv/