ripple

See also: Ripple

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ripple

Wikipedia

From an alteration of rimple.

ripple (plural ripples)

A moving disturbance, or undulation, in the surface of a fluid.
I dropped a small stone into the pond and watched the ripples spread.

The ebbing tide had left ripples in the sand.
A sound similar to that of undulating water.
A style of ice cream in which flavors have been coarsely blended together.
I enjoy fudge ripple ice cream, but I especially like to dig through the carton to get at the ripple part and eat only that.
(electronics) A small oscillation of an otherwise steady signal.

moving disturbance or undulation in the surface of a liquid

sound similar to that of undulating water

style of ice cream

small oscillation of an otherwise steady signal

ripple (third-person singular simple present ripples, present participle rippling, simple past and past participle rippled)

(intransitive) To move like the undulating surface of a body of water; to undulate.
(intransitive) To propagate like a moving wave.
- 2008, Bradley Simpson, Economists with Guns, page 65:
  These problems were complicated by a foreign exchange crunch which rippled through the economy in 1961-1962, […]
(intransitive) To make a sound as of water running gently over a rough bottom, or the breaking of ripples on the shore.
(transitive) To shape into a series of ripples.
(transitive) To launch or unleash in rapid succession.
- 2019, Jason M. Hardy, Phaedra M. Weldon, Herbert A. Beas II, BattleTech: Weapons Free: BattleCorps Anthology, Volume 3
  Hearns' 'Mech rippled fifteen missiles. Austen watched the missiles go in. They smashed into a copse of trees, smashing the trunks aside.

to move like the undulating surface of a body of water

to make a sound as water running across shallows

From Middle English *ripelen, repulen, equivalent to rip +‎ -le (frequentative suffix).

ripple (third-person singular simple present ripples, present participle rippling, simple past and past participle rippled)

(transitive) To scratch, tear, or break slightly; graze
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Compare German Low German Repel, Dutch repel, German Riffel, extended forms (with instrumental or diminutive -le) of Low German Repe (“ripple”), Dutch repe (“ripple”). Compare also Dutch repen, German reffen, Swedish repa (“to beat; ripple”).