Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To cause to move with violence or sudden force.
- intransitive verb To upset; disturb.
- intransitive verb To arouse interest in (a cause, for example) by use of the written or spoken word; discuss or debate.
- intransitive verb To stir up public interest in a cause.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To move or actuate; maintain the action of.
- To move to and fro; impart regular motion to.
- To move or force into violent irregular action; shake or move briskly; excite physically: as, the wind agitates the sea; to agitate water in a vessel.
- To disturb, or excite into tumult; perturb.
- To discuss: debate; call attention to by speech or writing: as, to
agitate the question of free trade. - To consider on all sides; revolve in the mind, or view in all its aspects; plan.
- Synonyms and To rouse, stir up, ruffle, discompose.5 and To canvass, deliberate upon.
- To engage in agitation; arouse or attempt to arouse public interest, as in some political or social question: as, he set out to agitate in the country.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To move with a violent, irregular action
- transitive verb rare To move or actuate.
- transitive verb To stir up; to disturb or excite; to perturb.
- transitive verb To discuss with great earnestness; to debate.
- transitive verb To revolve in the mind, or view in all its aspects; to contrive busily; to devise; to plot.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To move with a violent, irregular action; as, the wind agitates the sea; to agitate water in a vessel.
- verb rare To move or
actuate . --Thomson. - verb To stir up; to disturb or excite; to
perturb ; as, he was greatly agitated. - verb To discuss with great
earnestness ; to debate; as, acontroversy hotly agitated. --Boyle. - verb To revolve in the mind, or view in all its aspects; to
contrive busily; to devise; to plot; as, politicians agitate desperate designs.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb change the arrangement or position of
- verb move very slightly
- verb exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or person; be an advocate for
- verb move or cause to move back and forth
- verb try to stir up public opinion
- verb cause to be agitated, excited, or roused
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The real question which this Society wishes to agitate is whether they do not furnish the best remedy for settling all disputes.
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The story, though it will not greatly rouse or deeply agitate, is yet sufficiently interesting to excite and prolong the attention of the reader; and the phraseology is at once correct and appropriate.
Reviews in the Analytical Review of Robinson's Poetry and Novels
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People like the McLemores fear that Sam, her mother, and her mother's artist friend, Perry, are in the South to "agitate" and to shake up the dividing lines between black and white and blur it all to grey.
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People like the McLemores fear that Sam, her mother, and her mother's artist friend, Perry, are in the South to "agitate" and to shake up the dividing lines between black and white and blur it all to grey.
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And then we're going to see this kind of agitate the atmosphere over the next couple of days. (inaudible) systems possible in areas that already have seen flooding, that may very well be a news flash weather story.
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Meanwhile, the Warburgs demanded that American Jews not '' agitate '' against the Hitler government, or join the organized boycott.
The Palestinian Mufti's Deal with Hitler: Kill All the Jews in the Middle East
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It was clear to us at the White House that these parades were part of an organized movement to "agitate" in favour of a radical programme of preparedness.
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You've messed about so long with men who merely 'agitate' and 'inaugurate,' that you've forgotten the kind who act first and talk afterwards.
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Plot Shaftesbury taught how to "agitate" opinion, how to rouse this lagging attention, this dormant energy of the people at large; and his opponents learned the art from him.
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He said AWB members were fearful and that the black group were "playing politics" and were there to "agitate" them.
chained_bear commented on the word agitate
This word always makes me think of Frederick Douglass.
October 21, 2008
englishteacher commented on the word agitate
(verb): to excite, to disturb, to stir up
April 6, 2010