TOP

Definition of activate verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

activate

verb
 
/ˈæktɪveɪt/
 
/ˈæktɪveɪt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they activate
 
/ˈæktɪveɪt/
 
/ˈæktɪveɪt/
he / she / it activates
 
/ˈæktɪveɪts/
 
/ˈæktɪveɪts/
past simple activated
 
/ˈæktɪveɪtɪd/
 
/ˈæktɪveɪtɪd/
past participle activated
 
/ˈæktɪveɪtɪd/
 
/ˈæktɪveɪtɪd/
-ing form activating
 
/ˈæktɪveɪtɪŋ/
 
/ˈæktɪveɪtɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. activate something to make something such as a device or chemical process start working
    • The burglar alarm is activated by movement.
    • The gene is activated by a specific protein.
    see also voice-activatedTopics Engineeringb2, Physics and chemistryb2
    Oxford Collocations DictionaryActivate is used with these nouns as the subject:
    • switch
    Activate is used with these nouns as the object:
    • alarm
    • mechanism
    • muscle
    See full entry
See activate in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee activate in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
dizzy
adjective
 
 
From the Topic
Health problems
C1
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day