Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for activate on Thesaurus.com verb (used with object), ac·ti·vat·ed, ac·ti·vat·ing. to make active; cause to function or act. Physics to render more reactive; excite: to activate a molecule. to induce radioactivity. to aerate (sewage) in order to accelerate decomposition of impure organic matter by microorganisms. Chemistry to make (carbon, a catalyst, molecules, etc.) more active . to hasten (reactions) by various means, as heating. to place (a military unit or station) on an active status in an assigned capacity. Show More
Origin of activate First recorded in
1620–30; active +
-ate1 Related forms ac·ti·va·tion , noun non·ac·ti·va·tion , noun o·ver·ac·ti·vate , verb (used with object), o·ver·ac·ti·vat·ed, o·ver·ac·ti·vat·ing. su·per·ac·ti·vate , verb (used with object), su·per·ac·ti·vat·ed, su·per·ac·ti·vat·ing. un·ac·ti·vat·ed , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for activate trigger ,
mobilize ,
stimulate ,
move ,
prompt ,
propel ,
energize ,
motivate ,
actuate ,
impel ,
start ,
arouse ,
rouse ,
stir Examples from the Web for activate Contemporary Examples of activate I read a study not long ago that chewing actually does activate your brain.
The manager responded by directing the first teller to call the police and activate the alarm.
Perry will home in on the darkest corners of the Tea Party mind and work relentlessly to activate the demons that lurk there.
Made from a Chinese root, TA-65 helps to activate telomerase, which rebuilds the strands.
We now know that both of the so-called printer bombs employed circuit boards from cellphones to activate the detonators.
Historical Examples of activate It seemed to activate some hidden response in her, for she glowed with tenderness.
And, remember, if it becomes necessary, I can activate the manacle.
Feedback will be to a master control servo that'll activate the heater or cooler.
The males are few in number and lack the power to activate the disks.
It could be induced to go into action and to activate the other plasmoids.
British Dictionary definitions for activate to make active or capable of action physics to make radioactive chem to increase the rate of (a reaction) to treat (a substance, such as carbon or alumina) so as to increase powers of adsorption physiol to prepare by arousal (the body or one of its organs (e.g. the brain)) for action to purify (sewage) by aeration US military to create, mobilize, or organize (a unit) Show More
Derived Forms activation , noun activator , noun Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for activate v. 1620s; see active + -ate (2). Related: Activated ; activating .
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
