activate

[ ak-tuh-veyt ]
See synonyms for activate on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),ac·ti·vat·ed, ac·ti·vat·ing.
  1. to make active; cause to function or act.

  2. Physics.

    • to render more reactive; excite: to activate a molecule.

    • to induce radioactivity.

  1. to aerate (sewage) in order to accelerate decomposition of impure organic matter by microorganisms.

  2. Chemistry.

    • to make (carbon, a catalyst, molecules, etc.) more active.

    • to hasten (reactions) by various means, as heating.

  3. 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.
  1. to become active or functional.

Origin of activate

1
First recorded in 1620–30; active + -ate1

Other words for activate

Opposites for activate

Other words from activate

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

Words that may be confused with activate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use activate in a sentence

  • Apparently it was too heavy for the weak force activating the cylinders.

    Sense from Thought Divide | Mark Irvin Clifton
  • He built at least a dozen of them on Niflheim, to use in activating volcanoes and bringing ore-bearing lava to the surface.

    Uller Uprising | Henry Beam Piper, John D. Clark and John F. Carr
  • He manipulated the dials and had just got an outside view as the pilot began activating the tubes.

    Man of Many Minds | E. Everett Evans
  • Activating the bird's brain he sent out a call to others of its kind that it had found food in abundance.

    Man of Many Minds | E. Everett Evans
  • When it passes through the first screen it breaks the current activating a chronograph, counting chronograph.

    Warren Commission (5 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy

British Dictionary definitions for activate

activate

/ (ˈæktɪˌveɪt) /


verb(tr)
  1. to make active or capable of action

  2. physics to make radioactive

  1. chem

    • to increase the rate of (a reaction)

    • to treat (a substance, such as carbon or alumina) so as to increase powers of adsorption

  2. physiol to prepare by arousal (the body or one of its organs (e.g. the brain)) for action

  3. to purify (sewage) by aeration

  4. US military to create, mobilize, or organize (a unit)

Derived forms of activate

  • 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