agitate

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from Latin agitatus, past participle of agitare (“to put in motion”), from agere (“to move”). Compare with French agiter. See act, agent.

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA(key): /ˈæ.d͡ʒɪ.teɪt/
  • Audio (UK)(file)

Verb

agitate (third-person singular simple present agitates, present participle agitating, simple past and past participle agitated)

  1. (transitive) To disturb or excite; to perturb or stir up (a person). [from 16th c.]
    He was greatly agitated by the news.
  2. (transitive) To cause to move with a violent, irregular action; to shake. [from 16th c.]
    • 1830, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford
      It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.
    the wind agitates the sea
    to agitate water in a vessel
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To set in motion; to actuate. [16th–18th c.]
  4. (transitive, now rare) To discuss or debate. [from 16th c.]
  5. (transitive, now rare) To revolve in the mind, or view in all its aspects; to consider, to devise. [from 17th c.]
    politicians agitate desperate designs

Synonyms
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Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations
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Translations to be checked

Further reading
  • agitate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • agitate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
  • agitate at OneLook Dictionary Search

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for agitate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)

Esperanto

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

Adverb

agitate

  1. present adverbial passive participle of agiti

Ido

Verb

agitate

  1. adverbial present passive participle of agitar

Italian

Adjective

agitate f

  1. feminine plural of agitato

Anagrams

Latin

Verb

agitāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of agitō

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English, from Latin agitatus. Cognate with English agitate.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /əˈdʒɪtet/

Verb

agitate (third-person singular simple present agitates, present participle agitatin, simple past agitatit, past participle agitate)

  1. to agitate

References
  • “agitate” in Eagle, Andy, editor, The Online Scots Dictionary, 2016.
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