activate

[ ak-tuh-veyt ]

/ ˈæk təˌveɪt /

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See synonyms for: activate / activated / activating / activation 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.

verb (used without object), ac·ti·vat·ed, ac·ti·vat·ing.

to become active or functional.

OTHER WORDS FOR activate

1 actuate, start, turn on, set going.

See synonyms for activate on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR activate

1 stop, halt, check.

See antonyms for activate on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

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Hold your head up high as you embark on this quiz that explores some of the synonyms and meanings of “pride.”

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What does "dignity" mean?

showing self-respect

treating others with kindness

acting selfishly

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Origin of activate

First recorded in 1620–30; active + -ate¹

OTHER WORDS FROM activate

ac·ti·va·tion

[ak-tuh-vey-shuhn], /ˌæk təˈveɪ ʃən/, nounnon·ac·ti·va·tion, nouno·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

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH activate

1. activate , actuate2. activate , stimulate

Words nearby activate

Actions speak louder than words, action stations, action verb, Actis, Actium, activate, activated alumina, activated carbon, activated charcoal, activated mine, activated resin

How to use activate in a sentence

According to Heather Nenov, an ophthalmologist from Stein Optometric Center, light entering the eye at a consistent brightness activates photoreceptors at the back of the eye.
What You Need to Know About Bike Lights|Aaron Rickel|August 26, 2020|Outside Online
Depending on trim level, there are massaging seats, power-adjustable pedals, motion-activated liftgate and captain’s chairs instead of a bench seat in the second row.
Vehicles to ride out a pandemic|Joe Phillips|August 22, 2020|Washington Blade
In real time, they looked at how neurons in the hippocampus activated in response to fear, and found that they tend to transmit the information to the amygdala—the emotion center—more than average.
Towards ‘Eternal Sunshine’? New Links Found Between Memory and Emotion|Shelly Fan|July 28, 2020|Singularity Hub
By better understanding the blood messengers involved, we could artificially activate this pathway and potentially protect the mental essence of what makes you you—even as your brain falters with age or disease.
Couch Potato No More: How the Benefits of Exercise Transfer to the Brain|Shelly Fan|July 14, 2020|Singularity Hub

In mice with light-sensitive neurons, the team activated multiple glomeruli with a specific pattern, which generated a hallucinatory sense of a particular scent—even if it wasn’t there and didn’t exist in nature.
A Highway to Smell: How Scientists Used Light to Incept Smell in Mice|Shelly Fan|July 1, 2020|Singularity Hub
I read a study not long ago that chewing actually does activate your brain.
Elizabeth Gilbert: How I Write|Noah Charney|October 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
What would be in store for Lebanon if—or when—the cells activate was suggested by recent events.
Al Qaeda’s Play for Lebanon|Jamie Dettmer|July 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The manager responded by directing the first teller to call the police and activate the alarm.
New Usual Suspects in U.S. Bank Heists: Women|Michael Daly|May 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Perry will home in on the darkest corners of the Tea Party mind and work relentlessly to activate the demons that lurk there.
Perry: King of the Know-Nothings|Michael Tomasky|August 19, 2011|DAILY BEAST
He warned her that if she provided details of either him or their conversation, he would activate the explosive.
Australia’s Collar-Bomb Hoax|David Leser|August 4, 2011|DAILY BEAST
A source of neutrons to activate the material and a gamma-ray spectrometer to measure the radiation from the material afterwards.
The Atomic Fingerprint|Bernard Keisch
A neutron moderator slows down the neutrons and thus makes them more likely to activate the calcium in the bones.
The Atomic Fingerprint|Bernard Keisch
When she was finished Rynason nodded for her to activate the linkage.
Warlord of Kor|Terry Gene Carr
Activate the switch with the eraser-end of a pencil or small tool of similar size.
Radio Shack TRS-80 Expansion Interface: Operator's Manual|Anonymous
And so they might—if we had an unlimited supply of raw materials to produce robots, and unlimited power-sources to activate them.
This Crowded Earth|Robert Bloch

British Dictionary definitions for activate

activate

/ (ˈæktɪˌveɪt) /

verb (tr)

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)

Derived forms of activate

activation, nounactivator, 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

activate

OTHER WORDS FOR activate

OPPOSITES FOR activate

Origin of activate

OTHER WORDS FROM activate

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH activate

Words nearby activate

Words related to activate

How to use activate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for activate

Derived forms of activate