activate

[ak-tuh-veyt]

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.
1. to render more reactive; excite: to activate a molecule.
2. to induce radioactivity.
to aerate (sewage) in order to accelerate decomposition of impure organic matter by microorganisms.

Chemistry.
1. to make (carbon, a catalyst, molecules, etc.) more active.
2. to hasten (reactions) by various means, as heating.
to place (a military unit or station) on an active status in an assigned capacity.

Origin of activate

First recorded in 1620–30; active + -ate¹

Related formsac·ti·va·tion, 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

Can be confusedactivate actuate stimulate

Synonyms for activate

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1. actuate, start, turn on, set going.

Antonyms for activate

1. stop, halt, check.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for activated

trigger, mobilize, stimulate, move, prompt, propel, energize, motivate, actuate, impel, start, arouse, rouse, stir

Examples from the Web for activated

Contemporary Examples of activated

The fMRI scan measures blood flow in the brain, and can sense when certain areas are activated.
Welcome to Generation Overshare: Lena Dunham, Taylor Swift, and the Politics of Self-Disclosure
Marlow Stern
November 6, 2014
As for the claims that activated charcoal will help purify your body from toxins?
Could Eating Charcoal Help You Detox?
DailyBurn
September 20, 2014
Some natural health practitioners also say activated charcoal can be useful to treat minor digestive issues.
Could Eating Charcoal Help You Detox?
DailyBurn
September 20, 2014
The volcanic chain was activated, we were told, expecting to see cataclysmic explosions at any moment.
In Nicaragua Earthquakes and Politics Play Hell With Holy Week
Monica Seoane
April 18, 2014
Moments later, he activated a landmine, resulting in his death, leaving those color images as his final photographs.
Capa in Color
Justin Jones
January 31, 2014

Historical Examples of activated

Nuwell activated it, and they went through it into the big building.
Rebels of the Red Planet
Charles Louis Fontenay
When you threw that switch, it sent out an impulse that activated them.
The Cosmic Computer
Henry Beam Piper
Behind the collapsium shielding, they wouldn't have been activated.
The Cosmic Computer
Henry Beam Piper
But a machine that ain't been activated has not got any personality.
The Machine That Saved The World
William Fitzgerald Jenkins
Baggage need not be opened, providing its spyproofing was not activated.
Legacy
James H Schmitz

British Dictionary definitions for activated

activate

verb (tr)

to make active or capable of action
physics to make radioactive
chem
1. to increase the rate of (a reaction)
2. 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 Formsactivation, 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

Word Origin and History for activated

activate

1620s; see active + -ate (2). Related: Activated; activating.