salivate

American  

[sal-uh-veyt] / ˈsæl əˌveɪt /

verb (used without object)

salivated, salivating

1. to produce saliva.

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verb (used with object)

salivated, salivating

1. to produce an excessive secretion of saliva in, as by mercurial poisoning.

salivate British  

/ ˈsælɪˌveɪt /

verb

1. (intr) to secrete saliva, esp an excessive amount

2. (tr) to cause (a laboratory animal, etc) to produce saliva, as by the administration of mercury

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Other Word Forms

• salivation noun
• unsalivated adjective
• unsalivating adjective

Etymology

Origin of salivate

1650–60; < Latin salīvātus (past participle of salīvāre to cause to salivate); saliva, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

Young people constantly pour themselves into digital surveillance systems, giving the managers of those systems a kind of power that would have had 20th-century totalitarians salivating.

From The Wall Street Journal

And I haven’t gotten to the secondary market, where sellers are salivating.

From The Wall Street Journal

It was a comment that has left fat cats like the Dodgers and New York Mets salivating at the possibility of reeling in the baseball equivalent of a great white shark before opening day.

From The Wall Street Journal

I try not to salivate as fresh steam curls up from the pan.

From Literature

Penelope looked at the quartet of panting, salivating beasts; the icy feeling at the back of her neck returned.

From Literature

Related Words

• froth