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:
"Our graduates rotate across four areas at six-month intervals, working directly alongside senior relationship managers to learn their trade," Northampton-based Pratt explains.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
An additional aircraft carrier strike group and Marine expeditionary unit are also poised to join an armada of roughly 20 other warships operating in the Middle East next month, although some ships could rotate out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
That could rotate plenty of borrowers into a more favorable “band” that gets them lower upfront fees and better borrowing rates.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026
Earth does not rotate at a perfectly constant rate.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026
That it would turn without crushing its bearings and rotate smoothly and true were engineering hopes supported only by calculations that reflected known qualities of iron and steel.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
The old two-track Portal Bridge, which runs low across the Hackensack River, has a mechanism that disconnects and rotates part of the bridge to let ships pass by.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026
Sarah Helzer, the team’s alternate candidate, rotates between stations to learn each of her teammates’ techniques, so she can be prepared to take over in case of an emergency or injury.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026
As the brown dwarf moves through its 87-minute orbit, the hotspot repeatedly rotates into and out of the observer's view.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
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
Up into the air her hand goes, and she rotates this way and that.
From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone
They won their first two games by a combined margin of 94 points as Eck rotated a few different replacements before settling on dual-threat quarterback Toa Fa’avae.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
AI bellwethers like Korean and Japanese semiconductor plays recoiled as traders rotated into consumer and internet plays listed in Hong Kong and China.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
Consequently, Earth rotated slightly faster 2,700 years ago than it does today.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026
An unsatisfactory solution is currently in place: the champions in the West and Southwest go up automatically while a third automatic promotion spot is rotated among the other three leagues in a three-year cycle.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Pet jerked into stillness, then slowly rotated its head toward her.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
The bloc's rotating chair will at the end of this year pass from the Philippines to Singapore, a city-state analysts say opposes normalising Myanmar ties.
From Barron's ● Nov. 14, 2026
Working with his HR partner, Melissa Kremer, he said, “we had multiple internal candidates that we were rotating into different roles so the board could see them in different enterprise leadership positions.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026
Shaw says it cost roughly $7,000 to get Shaw’s Coffee Cart off the ground and he has about six rotating staff to cater weddings, conferences and other events.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2026
Previously discovered debris discs around white dwarfs have shared a recognizable observational signature consistent with a single, flat, rotating disc.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
But she hung there, staring at me, her ears rotating with the noise of the dogs around her.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
