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Verb: activate  'ak-ti,veyt
  1. Put in motion, initiate (a device, reaction, circuit, etc)
    "activate the circuits";
    - actuate, trigger, set off, spark off, spark, trigger off, touch off
     
  2. Make active or more active
    "activate an old file"
     
  3. Make more adsorptive
    "activate a metal"
     
  4. Aerate (sewage) so as to favour the growth of organisms that decompose organic matter
    - aerate
     
  5. Make (substances) radioactive

Derived forms: activating, activated, activates

Type of: alter, change, initiate, modify, pioneer

Antonym: inactivate

Encyclopedia: Activate