resuscitate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonresuscitationnoun
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resuscitationnoun
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nonresuscitableadjective
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nonresuscitativeadjective
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resuscitableadjective
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resuscitativeadjective
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unresuscitableadjective
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unresuscitatedadjective
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unresuscitatingadjective
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unresuscitativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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resuscitatesimple
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resuscitatessimple
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have resuscitatedperfect
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has resuscitatedperfect
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am resuscitatingprogressive
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are resuscitatingprogressive
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is resuscitatingprogressive
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have been resuscitatingperfect progressive
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has been resuscitatingperfect progressive
Past
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resuscitatedsimple
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had resuscitatedperfect
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was resuscitatingprogressive
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were resuscitatingprogressive
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had been resuscitatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of resuscitate
1525–35; < Latin resuscitātus (past participle of resuscitāre “to reawaken”), equivalent to re- re- + sus- sus- + cit(āre) “to move, arouse” ( see cite 1) + -ātus -ate 1 ( def. )
Explanation
To resuscitate is to revive a person who has lost consciousness. In recent years it's become important for people to learn CPR so that they might resuscitate someone who loses consciousness, and many schools and hospitals offer classes in CPR. The Latin word suscitāre, "to raise," combines with re-, "again," to create the base of the verb resuscitate. Through the years, methods of resuscitation have advanced to the current sophisticated and effective levels of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, and defibrillation paddles that can shock a heart back to life. In fact, some patients nowadays ask to sign a "do not resuscitate" (DNR) order to allow them to die without medical interventions like resuscitation.
Vocabulary lists containing resuscitate
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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.
See Examples For:
Ambulance workers tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the pair.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
"The first of the two was pulled out alive, but unfortunately, his body gave out and he did not survive. Doctors could not resuscitate him," regional fire bureau spokeswoman Maria Leah Sajili told AFP.
From Barron's ● May 25, 2026
Celona, who has promised to resuscitate the city’s entertainment industry by fast-tracking film permits and cutting red tape, trails far behind.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
There was no heartbeat and medics attempted to resuscitate her for 25 minutes.
From BBC ● May 11, 2026
She would find it increasingly exhausting to conjure up, to dust off, to resuscitate once again what was long dead.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
It also licenses and resuscitates iconic brands that have fallen on hard times such as Polaroid and provides consulting services to companies.
From Reuters ● Aug. 8, 2023
Their bond resuscitates a movie that might otherwise have been dead on arrival.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2022
This month, Saar added an outdoor sculpture to her show at the Armory: “Catfish Dreamin’,” which resuscitates an early public work that she first staged in Baltimore in 1993.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2021
She gets hold of a friendly junk-yard owner’s ancient yellow Volkswagen Beetle, resuscitates it, and brings it home.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 29, 2018
Polyidos takes the same blade of grass, and with it resuscitates Glaukos.
From Myths and myth-makers: Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology by Fiske, John
And a good deal of the narrative is about the efforts to establish the newly resuscitated Indianapolis Clowns franchise in the Banana Ball Championship League.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
The mariners’ story—headline news at the time but largely forgotten since—is resuscitated in Eric Jay Dolin’s “The Wreck of the Mentor.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Compared with the lowest group, those in the highest group had a 67% greater risk of dying from coronary heart disease or stroke, or experiencing non-fatal heart attacks, strokes or resuscitated cardiac arrest.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 19, 2026
Then, in 2023, Charlotte suffered a sudden respiratory arrest and had to be resuscitated by neighbours.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2025
In 1997 Mary W Eubanks, a Duke University biologist, resuscitated the hybridization theory in a new variant.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
“The popular narrative about Johnson and Bird resuscitating a faltering league is incomplete” without mention of the American Basketball Association “and two of its signature players,” writes Mr. Epplin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
Lifeguards at Bondi have been praised for their courage on the day of the December 14 attack, dragging people to safety, bandaging and resuscitating victims, and pulling panicked swimmers from the waves.
From Barron's ● Dec. 20, 2025
However, she added, if the starfish population could be revived, it could “turn the tide” on resuscitating kelp forests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2025
Kalen was a key piece in resuscitating the Huskies and giving this city one of the more memorable sports seasons to date.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
Working quickly, he straddles Lincoln’s chest and begins resuscitating the president, hoping to improve the flow of oxygen to his brain.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
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.
