adj, verb ·5 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   present participle and gerund of reciprocate form-of, gerund, participle, present

Adjective

1. 1
   That moves back and forth or up and down. not-comparable
2. 2
   Of an engine type, that has one or more pistons that move back and forth or up and down. not-comparable
3. 3
   Of an other machine, whose mechanism relies on a back and forth or up and down motion. not-comparable
4. 4
   Of a person or their actions, responding in kind. not-comparable

   "reciprocating behavior"

Synonyms

All synonyms

changeableconvertibleequalequalizingequivalenteven

Example

More examples

"This reciprocating saw is cost-prohibitive."

Etymology

See reciprocate § Etymology.

Related phrases

reciprocating compressorreciprocating enginereciprocating flight conveyorreciprocating motionreciprocating platereciprocating sawreciprocating screenreciprocating screwreciprocating sphere

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.