rotate
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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rotates,
present (3rd person singular)
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rotated,
past participle, past
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rotating
present participle
-
to cause to turn around an axis or center point; revolve.
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to cause to go through a cycle of changes; cause to pass or follow in a fixed routine of succession.
to rotate farm crops.
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to replace (a person, troops, etc.) by another or others, usually according to a schedule or plan.
verb (used without object)
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rotates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rotated,
past participle, past
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rotating
present participle
-
to turn around on or as if on an axis.
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to proceed in a fixed routine of succession.
The sentries rotated in keeping watch.
adjective
verb
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to turn or cause to turn around an axis, line, or point; revolve or spin
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to follow or cause to follow a set order or sequence
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(of a position, presidency, etc) to pass in turn from one eligible party to each of the other eligible parties
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(of staff) to replace or be replaced in turn
adjective
Synonym Usage
See turn.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonrotatableadjective
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nonrotatingadjective
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rotatableadjective
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unrotatedadjective
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unrotatingadjective
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rotatablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rotatesimple
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rotatessimple
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have rotatedperfect
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has rotatedperfect
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am rotatingprogressive
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are rotatingprogressive
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is rotatingprogressive
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have been rotatingperfect progressive
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has been rotatingperfect progressive
Past
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rotatedsimple
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had rotatedperfect
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was rotatingprogressive
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were rotatingprogressive
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had been rotatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rotate1
First recorded in 1800–10; from Latin rotātus (past participle of rotāre “to cause to spin, roll, move in a circle”), equivalent to rot(a) “wheel” + -ātus -ate 1
Origin of rotate2
1775–85; < Latin rot ( a ) wheel + -ate 1
Explanation
Rotate means to circle around a center point. Wheels on a car rotate, planets rotate, and if you're an ice skater, you rotate on the blade of a skate when you do your spins. Rotate can also mean that you take turns performing a job. If you, Jim, and Shelia all got the same amount of votes in the class election, you could rotate the role of treasurer, meaning the position would pass from one to another in a regular pattern. Rotate can also refer to other things that are passed along in a regular order. You might rotate lawn duties with your brother — that means you mow the lawn one week and he mows it the next.
Vocabulary lists containing rotate
Space Science (Astronomy) - Introductory
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Earth and the Solar System - Introductory
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Fish in a Tree
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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:
The four networks along with CNN rotate the coverage which is shared with other news organizations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
But Keirstead believes that it’s “increasingly likely” that investors will rotate back into high-growth AI infrastructure names.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Clubs tend to rotate in this competition anyway, so the games still go ahead even if league games are postponed.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
The networks rotate coverage of White House presidential events.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
If you’re standing on the equator, you rotate with it, 40,000 kilometres in twenty-four hours.
From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd
The naming of tropical storms and hurricanes is a job for the World Meteorological Organization, which rotates them out every six years and retires them after a given storm causes too much destruction.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
The orbiter circles the Moon from pole to pole once every two hours as the Moon slowly rotates beneath it.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
Traditionally, the UN's top job rotates between different regions.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
It’s about the fact that the Lotus’s polar axis runs exactly through the driver’s inboard hip, so that the machine rotates around them and not some invisible pivot point, just off-center.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Everything within the cage rotates slowly, the silver stars sparkling as they catch the light.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
A hurricane is an engine that pulls in heat and is rotated by wind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
While the trio have been named in the Test squad, they may be rotated in favour of Baker, Essex pace bowler Sam Cook and Derbyshire spinner Shoaib Bashir.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Also returning is All-American quarterback Ava Van Heerde, who rotated with Meier last season to give opposing defenses fits attempting to solve their contrasting but equally effective styles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
It also briefly emerged last fall, as investors rotated away from tech and into stocks that had been lagging behind.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
I rotated my arm so we could both see the raised circle of flesh on the one side and, with a flip of the wrist, the waxy white twin on the other.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
Disney's coverage also featured a vegetable platter being served and a rotating floor.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Campbell said they’ve been rotating out of U.S. utilities and into regional European players.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
The network had been scheduled to be the primary TV representative for a rotating pool covering the president Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
That means the storm's rotating centers at different levels of the atmosphere must line up rather than remain tilted away from one another.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Despite the fact that I’ve been watering Mr. Harris’s plant, and rotating its position in the window, it still looks like a barren stick.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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.
