HIBERNATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hibernate mean? 

• HIBERNATE (verb)
  The verb HIBERNATE has 2 senses:

1. sleep during winter

2. be in an inactive or dormant state

  Familiarity information: HIBERNATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HIBERNATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they hibernate    ... he / she / it hibernates   
Past simple: hibernated   
Past participle: hibernated   
-ing form: hibernating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sleep during winter

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

hibernate; hole up

Context example:

Bears must eat a lot of food before they hibernate in their caves

Hypernyms (to "hibernate" is one way to...):

catch some Z's; kip; log Z's; sleep; slumber (be asleep)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Antonym:

aestivate; estivate (sleep during summer)

Derivation:

hibernation (cessation from or slowing of activity during the winter; especially slowing of metabolism in some animals)

hibernation (the torpid or resting state in which some animals pass the winter)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be in an inactive or dormant state

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "hibernate" is one way to...):

rest (be inactive, refrain from acting)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

The researchers then treated non-hibernating cells prior to cold exposure with two drugs to alter the course of the cold-induced damage.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

WNS spreads as bats hibernate in winter.

(Hibernation season over, will disease-ridden bats emerge from caves and mines this spring?, NSF)

Brown-colored adipose tissue that is present in higher concentrations in newborns and hibernating animals.

(Brown Adipose Tissue, NCI Thesaurus)

We all have some brown fat – or brown adipose tissue, as it is also known – in our bodies, but it is found most abundantly in newborns and in hibernating animals (where the heat produced by brown fat enables them to survive even in freezing temperatures).

(Study in mice suggests drug to turn fat ‘brown’ could help fight obesity, University of Cambridge)

WNS caused a 10-fold decrease in colony sizes of hibernating bats in eastern North America.

(Hibernation season over, will disease-ridden bats emerge from caves and mines this spring?, NSF)

They found that in ground squirrel neurons the microtubule cytoskeleton remains intact while it deteriorates in the neurons of humans and other non-hibernating animals, including rats.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

To obtain information on the status of bat colonies, biologists visit subterranean habitats where bats hibernate during winter—caves, mines, old war bunkers, anywhere that's dark, cool, moist and protected from harsh winds and freezing temperatures.

(Hibernation season over, will disease-ridden bats emerge from caves and mines this spring?, NSF)