From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmodulatemod‧u‧late /ˈmɒdjəleɪt $ ˈmɑːdʒə-/ verb 1 [transitive] formalCCHANGE/MAKE something DIFFERENT to change the sound of your voice2 [transitive] to change a process or activity to make it more controlled, slower, less strong etc These drugs modulate the disease process.3 [intransitive + from/to] technicalAPM to move from one key to another in a piece of music using a series of related chords4 [transitive] technicalTCB to change the form of a radio signal so that it can be broadcast more effectively —modulation /ˌmɒdjəˈleɪʃən $ ˌmɑːdʒə-/ noun [countable, uncountable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
modulate• Day-to-day television, in its regularity and its availability, seems regulated by repetition and modulated by acceptable difference.• It can be employed progressively to modulate, by stages, from one shape to another.• Under Lloyd Richards' carefully modulated direction, these lives fill the theater with their music.• Second, people laugh the way they speak: by modulating exhaled air.• Although glutamate is the presumed mediator, other neurotransmitters may modulate its effects.• But the biggest joy is Fiorentino, who delivers a beautifully modulated seriocomic performance.• This middle layer has a spatial light modulator that acts as a light valve to modulate the illumination.Origin modulate (1500-1600) Latin past participle of modulari “to play, sing”, from modulus; → MODULE 