pendulum
Americannoun
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a body so suspended from a fixed point as to move to and fro by the action of gravity and acquired momentum.
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Horology. a swinging lever, weighted at the lower end, for regulating the speed of a clock mechanism.
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something that tends to move from one position, condition, etc., to the opposite extreme and then back again.
In a democratic society, the pendulum of political thought swings left and right.
noun
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a body mounted so that it can swing freely under the influence of gravity. It is either a bob hung on a light thread ( simple pendulum ) or a more complex structure ( compound pendulum )
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such a device used to regulate a clockwork mechanism
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something that changes its position, attitude, etc fairly regularly
the pendulum of public opinion
Other Word Forms
- pendulumlike adjective
Etymology
Origin of pendulum
1650–60; < New Latin, noun use of neuter of Latin pendulus pendulous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"What was unusual was the near absence of engagement during Hasina's tenure. The pendulum had swung too far in one direction; now it risks swinging too far in the other."
From BBC
“We are witnessing a massive pendulum swing of one type of ignorance to another,” Barbieri said.
Danny let the pendulum fall and it spun and spun and spun.
From Literature
We can think of climate change as a pendulum: as it intensifies, it swings from one extreme to another, hot and cold and dry and wet.
From Salon
There’s only one way for the pendulum to swing: back toward adulthood, or what our therapist contributor calls proper psychological distance.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
