Activate

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Activate \Ac"ti*vate\, v. t.
     To make active. [Obs.]
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:



  activate
       v 1: put in motion or move to act; "trigger a reaction"; "actuate
            the circuits" [syn: {trip}, {actuate}, {trigger}, {set
            off}, {spark off}, {spark}, {trigger off}, {touch off}]
       2: make active or more active; "activate an old file" [ant: {inactivate}]
       3: make more adsorptive; "activate a metal"
       4: aerate (sewage) so as to favor the growth of organisms that
          decompose organic matter [syn: {aerate}]
       5: make (substances) radioactive

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  42 Moby Thesaurus words for "activate":
     accelerate, actuate, animate, arouse, atomize, awaken, bombard,
     charge, cleave, contaminate, cross-bombard, energize, fission,
     galvanize, get going, impel, infect, initiate, irradiate, mobilize,
     motivate, move, nucleize, poison, prompt, radiumize, rally,
     reactivate, recharge, remilitarize, rouse, set going,
     set in motion, smash the atom, start, stimulate, stir, switch on,
     trigger, turn on, wake, waken