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/ |
- 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.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryActivate is used with these nouns as the subject:- switch
- alarm
- mechanism
- muscle
- …