to saltate
- verb
- /ˈsɔːlteɪt/
- Specialized
- As the river flowed, the small stones would saltate over one another, creating a beautiful music of nature.
Examples
-
First, saltating soil splashes up loose PM-10 that is resting on the surface of larger dirt particles.
Academic text (1996) -
The sand began to saltate across the beach as the wind picked up strength.
-
All three are initiated by bouncing or saltating soil particles.
Academic text (1996) -
Flakes of chipped stone, saltated in rivers.
Fiction book (2001) -
A few saltating grains.
Fiction book (1999) -
The tiny organisms in the puddle saltate swiftly in response to the sudden drop in temperature.
Antonyms
How Discontinuous
Surface Forms
Etymology
Saltate comes from the Latin saltare 'to jump', so imagine tiny grains 'jumping' along the ground; this is why the word describes sand or small particles that move by short leaps in wind or water.