rotate
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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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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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 Sun has differential rotation, meaning that different latitudes rotate at different speeds.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
As winds rotate in a clockwise direction around high pressure, this will result in a northerly airflow pushing across the UK.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is unique in that it is a 72 mph ride with vehicles created to rotate 360 degrees through multiple inversions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
When his team tried to rotate out after its two-week mission, they were denied permission.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Prayer meetings would rotate houses up and down the block based on the day.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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
When the market rotates, everything you own falls at once.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
For instance, G 203-47's red dwarf rotates once every 100 or so days, but orbits its white dwarf every 14.9 days, meaning they are not tidally synced.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
As the planet transits its star, it rotates slightly between the beginning and end of the event.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026
Our reality rotates ninety degrees, and we fall toward the window.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
I rotated among brands to lessen the likelihood that these additives would heavily influence my results.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
He started 37 league matches and only failed to do so once, when Forest heavily rotated before a Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa at the start of May.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
He and four co-hosts rotated, with Bergstrom anchoring the prime hours and bleeding into some of the others’ time slots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Shares of Arm Holdings continued to fall Wednesday after sinking more than 10% on Tuesday, as investors rotated out of numerous highflying artificial-intelligence names.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
She rotated her head and stared straight at me.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
Many traditional lidar systems use a large rotating unit to direct light pulses across a scene.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
He has his family, and also a rotating cast of people who are in his favor at any given moment.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
“Now, investors are rotating back to AI takers from makers,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 19, 2026
Burundi, which holds the rotating African Union presidency, nominated Sall earlier this year for the UN secretary-general position.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
It was also the same day and night and throughout the year, even though the earth was rotating on its axis and orbiting around the sun.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
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.
