hibernation
Americannoun
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An inactive state resembling deep sleep in which certain animals living in cold climates pass the winter. In hibernation, the body temperature is lowered and breathing and heart rates slow down. Hibernation protects the animal from cold and reduces the need for food during the season when food is scarce.
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Compare estivation
Etymology
Origin of hibernation
First recorded in 1680–90; hibernat(e) ( def. ) + -ion ( def. )
Explanation
Hibernation is a type of deep sleep some animals (like bears) go into during winter. Hibernation is like a long nap. Have you ever wanted to skip from fall to spring? Some animals do just that by hibernating, which is a sleep-like state during which their metabolism slows and they conserve energy. Animals who hibernate do nothing: hibernation is a time of rest and inactivity, almost like a coma. People also use this word for other types of inactivity. For example, you could talk about the hibernation of an athlete who has taken a year off from competition.
Vocabulary lists containing hibernation
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life
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Animals (Zoology) - Introductory
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Animals (Zoology) - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hibernation is a survival strategy used by many animals, characterised by a state of deep dormancy and profound reductions in metabolic activity, body temperature, heart rate and respiration.
From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2024
Hibernation enables animals to survive cold conditions, and estivation allows animals to survive the hostile conditions of a hot, dry climate.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Hibernation in a squirrel might look like hibernation in a lemur or a groundhog, or a bear.
From Slate • Sep. 5, 2014
Powers wrote the Year of Hibernation about dysphoria, the opposite of euphoria, as an attempt to "document the trails of his mind".
From The Guardian • Jan. 29, 2013
Hibernation would be too much sleeping, even by Duane’s standards.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
