stimulate
Americanverb (used with object)
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stimulates,
present (3rd person singular)
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stimulated,
past participle, past
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stimulating
present participle
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to rouse to action or effort, as by encouragement or pressure; spur on; incite.
A childhood summer learning program was the first thing to stimulate his interest in mathematics.
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Physiology, Medicine/Medical. to excite (a nerve, gland, etc.) to its functional activity.
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to invigorate (a person) by a food or beverage containing a stimulant such as coffee or tea.
verb (used without object)
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stimulates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stimulated,
past participle, past
-
stimulating
present participle
verb
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(tr; usually passive) to fill (a person) with ideas or enthusiasm
he was stimulated by the challenge
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(tr) physiol to excite (a nerve, organ, etc) with a stimulus
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to encourage (something) to start or progress further
a cut in interest rates should help stimulate economic recovery
Synonym Usage
See animate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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stimulabilitynoun
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stimulaternoun
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stimulationnoun
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stimulatornoun
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overstimulateverb
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interstimulateverb (used with object)
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prestimulateverb (used with object)
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restimulateverb (used with object)
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superstimulateverb (used with object)
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nonstimulableadjective
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self-stimulatedadjective
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stimulableadjective
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stimulativeadjective
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unstimulableadjective
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unstimulatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stimulatesimple
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stimulatessimple
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have stimulatedperfect
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has stimulatedperfect
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am stimulatingprogressive
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are stimulatingprogressive
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is stimulatingprogressive
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have been stimulatingperfect progressive
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has been stimulatingperfect progressive
Past
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stimulatedsimple
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had stimulatedperfect
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was stimulatingprogressive
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were stimulatingprogressive
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had been stimulatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stimulate
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin stimulāt(us) “goaded” (past participle of stimulāre “to goad, incite,” from stimulus stimulus ( def. ) ); see -ate 1
Explanation
If the economy is starting to stall, the president can't just sit there. He has to stimulate—turn it on, bring it to life, perk it up. You can stimulate practically anything: a person, a conversation, a mind, or even the growth of a plant. Stimulate is often used to describe a physical or sexual sensation, but don't get bogged down in that kind of thinking. Often, a government will try to stimulate economic activity by creating a stimulus package. Or, say, for example, that I'm trying to sell my new song CD. In order to stimulate interest, I need to send out a sample song to all my friends. Unless, of course, my songs are no good.
Vocabulary lists containing stimulate
"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
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"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Game Changer
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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:
Voda also offers one of the banya’s most distinctive traditional treatments: venik, in which bundles of leafy branches gently stimulate the body in the sauna.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
At present, the key rate is judged to neither restrain nor stimulate activity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
The scientists recorded neural activity while using light to stimulate specific neurons in the hypothalamus, allowing them to observe how different parts of the system responded.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026
I speculate that if he were alive today, he might see it as another regrettable proposal that is also likely to stimulate government growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
“It’s full of electrical impulses. It’s like a computer. If you stimulate one part of the brain with an electrode, it—” He stopped talking.
From "The Giver" by Lois Lowry
Hydroxyurea, a drug that stimulates production of fetal hemoglobin, has been shown to reduce pain crises and other complications—but it isn’t a cure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Sculptra is particularly interesting for this theme because it stimulates collagen production, rather than simply filling wrinkles.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 5, 2026
"When you stimulate these serotonergic neurons, we can see that it stimulates activity in the auditory region in the brain," Trussell said.
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2026
It is used to end pregnancies through 10 weeks gestation in combination with the drug misoprostol, which stimulates contractions and softens the cervix, allowing tissue to expel.
From Barron's ● May 10, 2026
When it comes to the lure of technology and the way it stimulates people, there’s one more comparison that researchers widely cite.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
That willingness resulted in excess demand that ultimately stimulated acute demand-pull inflation—that is, price increases caused by demand outpacing available goods and services.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
“That’s really what stimulated the conversation of the possibility.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Using electrodes, they stimulated specific bipolar cell types while simultaneously recording how neighboring cells responded.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
"When we stimulated one bipolar cell, many bipolar cells released neurotransmitters," says Z. Jimmy Zhou, PhD, Marvin L. Sears Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science and principal investigator.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
Jesse didn’t have to imagine this fate: Such people were all around him, ticked-off employees in their late thirties and forties, lots of them pleasant and adequately compensated, but few of them happy or stimulated.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
Galderma owns popular aesthetic products including Sculptra, an injectable aimed at stimulating collagen production, and Restylane, which is an injectable dermal filler.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
The findings highlight an important distinction between simply stimulating muscle growth and maintaining the cellular systems that keep muscles healthy.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
One of the most unexpected findings involved glucagon, a hormone generally known for raising blood sugar by stimulating the liver to release stored glucose.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
The last step is contracting skin and stimulating collagen with BodyTite, a radio-frequency treatment in which a tiny probe is inserted into the arm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
The results have been tantalizing, annoying, provocative, stimulating, and, at least until recently, substantially inconclusive.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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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.
