Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To grow or sprout as a plant does.
- v. Pathology To grow in size or spread abnormally.
- v. To exist in a state of physical or mental inactivity or insensibility.
- v. Informal To engage in relaxing or passive activities, such as watching television.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In pathology, to grow in the form of excrescence.
- Same as sprout, 5.
- To grow in the manner of plants; fulfil vegetable functions.
- Hence To live an idle, unthinking, useless life; have a mere inactive physical existence; live on without material or intellectual achievement.
- To cause to vegetate or grow.
Wiktionary
- v. of a plant To grow or sprout.
- v. of a wart, etc. To spread abnormally.
- v. informal To live or spend a period of time in a dull, inactive, un-challenging way.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To grow, as plants, by nutriment imbibed by means of roots and leaves; to start into growth; to sprout; to germinate.
- v. Fig.: To lead a life too low for an animate creature; to do nothing but eat and grow.
- v. (Med.) To grow exuberantly; to produce fleshy or warty outgrowths.
WordNet 3.0
- v. produce vegetation
- v. engage in passive relaxation
- v. establish vegetation on
- v. grow like a plant
- v. propagate asexually
- v. lead a passive existence without using one's body or mind
- v. grow or spread abnormally
Etymologies
- From Latin vegetatum, past participle of vegeto ("I enliven, I arouse") (Wiktionary)
- Latin vegetāre, vegetāt-, to enliven; see vegetable. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“BULBS are to be gathered after the new bulb is perfected, and before it has begun to vegetate, which is at the time the leaves decay.”
“Are to be gathered after the new bulb is perfected, and before it has begun to vegetate, which is at the time the leaves decay.”
“He said he did not intend to "vegetate" after his retirement and had been approached to do consulting work in the fields of water affairs, telecommunications, mining, the liquid fuels industry and the public service.”
“I scarcely know a greater injury that can be inflicted than the advice too often given to the first class to "vegetate" – or than the admiration too often bestowed on the latter class for "pluck.”
“In a meeting with high level U.S. officials in advance of the May 2010 election, Zenawi told them in plain words what he will do to his opposition if they try to "discredit the election": "If opposition groups resort to violence in an attempt to discredit the election, we will crush them with our full force; they will all vegetate like Birtukan Midekssa in jail forever.”
The Huffington Post: Alemayehu G. Mariam: Thugtatorship: The Highest Stage of African Dictatorship
“At first I was thinking why is there so many people on the sofa … but great play on the word vegetate.”
“ I had a brief hope that I would be allowed to vegetate in the yellow light with a hamburger, lemon mineral water and my low tar cigarettes.”
“I'm feeling slightly calmer now, although rather exhausted - I wish I could have a weekend when I didn't actually have anything on and could just...vegetate instead of running around like a headless chicken a common pass time for me completing chores.”
“Grab an adult beverage and go vegetate on your porch or patio until you feel better.”
“And besides I always wonder how many great inventions will not be invented, how many problems will not be solved as we sit and vegetate in front of the blue flickering light of the devil.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘vegetate’.
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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What Is the Sound of One Hand Typing?
Words you can type with one hand--if you learned how to type formally. Hunt-and-peck method doesn't count. ;-) I'm keeping it to five or more letters to avoid an excessively lengthy list.
<...racecar, start, create, desert, dessert, secret, secrete, sweet, tresses, poppy, puppy, homonym and 141 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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vocab
hard word word 4 strong vocab
ostracize, importune, impute, scintillate, mulct, deprecate, procrastinate, rusticate, vegetate, expiate, emulate, gesticulate and 345 more...
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set 14
from 66 to 70
conciliatory, wean, intractable, fissure, recant, asunder, stodgy, piety, ambulatory, pharisaical, philology, primordial and 79 more...
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Abnegation
Level 2
abnegation, abstruse, acrid, affront, anachronism, august, cacophony, chagrin, clandestine, contumely, deprecate, desultory and 88 more...
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Exist
exist, subsist, prevail, vegetate, abide, continue, endure, stay
Tweets
Looking for tweets for vegetate.
wajo22 strangely, i thought this word was germane to the word vegetation Apr 11, 2008