From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfluctuatefluc‧tu‧ate /ˈflʌktʃueɪt/ ●○○ AWL verb [intransitive] CHANGE/BECOME DIFFERENTif a price or amount fluctuates, it keeps changing and becoming higher and lower SYN varyfluctuate between Prices were volatile, fluctuating between $20 and $40.fluctuate around The number of children in the school fluctuates around 100. Insect populations fluctuate wildly from year to year.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
fluctuate• This procedure does not allow for adaptability, essential for applications such as process control, which must change as conditions fluctuate.• The car industry's annual production fluctuates between 5.1 million and 9.2 million vehicles.• Although each series will get a general rating based on its usual content, they can fluctuate from week to week.• Cholesterol levels in the blood fluctuate in the course of a day.• As the numbers fluctuate, old job identities are destroyed.• Seven races made up the first championship and that number has fluctuated over the years.• Share prices on the New York Stock Exchange often fluctuate wildly.• The state's income from sales taxes fluctuates with the economy.• This wealth will continue to fluctuate with the share price until he decides to cash in the options.• It will certainly be different for different species, and it may fluctuate within each species.fluctuate wildly• By this time Snyder was lapsing in and out of consciousness and his body temperature was fluctuating wildly.• Income: Liable to fluctuate wildly.• Lily had experienced pain there and her temperature fluctuated wildly.• The price of bread cereals, on which labouring families spent a vast proportion of their wages, fluctuated wildly.• I was tall and slim but I had an eating disorder and my weight fluctuated wildly according to how I ate.• The dam trapped sediments, and water releases fluctuated wildly, depending on hydroelectric-power needs.• The play fluctuated wildly throughout the three days of the event.From Longman Business Dictionaryfluctuatefluc‧tu‧ate /ˈflʌktʃueɪt/ verb [intransitive] if prices, income, rates etc fluctuate, they change, increasing or falling often or regularlyDealers know that prices fluctuate and that capital losses can be expected.fluctuate aroundThe charity’s income tends to fluctuate around £100,000 —fluctuating adjectiveExports to non-EU countries will still be subject tofluctuating exchange rates.→ See Verb tableOrigin fluctuate (1600-1700) Latin fluctuare, from fluere; → FLUENT 