ripples

Noun

ripple (plural ripples)

1. A moving disturbance, or undulation, in the surface of a fluid.
   • I dropped a small stone into the pond and watched the ripples spread.
2. One of a series of corrugations in flat surface.
   • The ebbing tide had left ripples in the sand.
3. A sound similar to that of undulating water.
4. 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.
5. A small oscillation of an otherwise steady signal.
6. (figuratively) A small spreading change, impact, or effect produced by a larger or more consequential action.
   • Investments in research, deployment and scaling existing technologies are the initial ripples that will have to build to a groundswell of further action.2025 September 11, Kate Marvel, “‘We’ve done it before’: how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disaster”, in The Guardian

See all 18 meanings of ripple