Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act of agitating or the state of being agitated.
  • noun Extreme emotional disturbance; perturbation.
  • noun The stirring up of public interest in a matter of controversy, such as a political or social issue.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of agitating, or the state of being agitated.
  • noun Disturbance of the mind; perturbation; excitement of passion.
  • noun Examination of a subject in controversy; deliberation; discussion; debate.
  • noun The act of arousing public attention to a political or social question by speeches, etc. Synonyms Agitation, Trepidation, Tremor, Emotion, excitement, flutter. Tremor is, in its literal use, wholly physical; it may be in a part of the body or the whole; it is generally less violent than trepidation. Trepidation and agitation are more often used of the mind than of the body. But all three words may express states either of the body or the mind, or of both at once through reflex influence. Trepidation is generally the result of fear; it is the excited anticipation of speedy disaster, penalty, etc. Agitation may be retrospective and occasioned by that which is pleasant; it includes the meaning of trepidation and a part of that of emotion. Emotion is used only of the mind; it is the broadest and highest of these words, covering all movements of feeling, whether of pleasure or pain, from agitation to the pleasure that the mind may take in abstract truth.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of agitating, or the state of being agitated; the state of being moved with violence, or with irregular action; commotion.
  • noun A stirring up or arousing; disturbance of tranquillity; disturbance of mind which shows itself by physical excitement; perturbation.
  • noun Excitement of public feeling by discussion, appeals, etc.
  • noun Examination or consideration of a subject in controversy, or of a plan proposed for adoption; earnest discussion; debate.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The act of agitating, or the state of being agitated; the state of being moved with violence, or with irregular action; commotion.
  • noun A stirring up or arousing; disturbance of tranquillity; disturbance of mind which shows itself by physical excitement; perturbation.
  • noun Excitement of public feeling by discussion, appeals, etc.
  • noun Examination or consideration of a subject in controversy, or of a plan proposed for adoption; earnest discussion; debate.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun disturbance usually in protest
  • noun a state of agitation or turbulent change or development
  • noun the feeling of being agitated; not calm
  • noun a mental state of extreme emotional disturbance
  • noun the act of agitating something; causing it to move around (usually vigorously)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French agitation, from Latin agitātiō ("movement, agitation").

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Examples

  • "The question is quite ripe _for fresh agitation_ and from experience I find that that agitation _must_ be started by a debate in Parliament.

    Great Britain and the American Civil War Ephraim Douglass Adams

  • The majority of U.S. - China trade agitation is caused by imposes signifcant costs on this one relatively tiny huge part of the U.S. economy.

    Coyote Blog » 2010 » February 2010

  • I will not fail to tell you further of all that is in agitation, as soon as I have Leisure, but I am rather pressed for time.

    Letter 22 2009

  • The majority of U.S. - China trade agitation is caused by imposes signifcant costs on this one relatively tiny huge part of the U.S. economy.

    Coyote Blog » Blog Archive » Tariff Article Rewrite 2010

  • Moreover, mention of communal divide during the agitation is totally uncalled for.

    Reader reviews of The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. 2006

  • There was a time when no one thought grounding off the table could be performed as it now is; the writer well remembers when it was in agitation, to print two reds, and two olaves at the house where first executed.

    The Creation of Color in Eighteenth-Century Europe 2006

  • Conversely, when ethereal energy becomes trapped in the throat chakra, and builds to excessive levels, it can result in hyperthyroidism, or overactivity of the thyroid, which is characterized by agitation and hyperactivity.

    Meditation as Medicine M.D. Dharma Singh Khalsa 2001

  • Conversely, when ethereal energy becomes trapped in the throat chakra, and builds to excessive levels, it can result in hyperthyroidism, or overactivity of the thyroid, which is characterized by agitation and hyperactivity.

    Meditation as Medicine M.D. Dharma Singh Khalsa 2001

  • She stirred, though it hardly deserved the word agitation, feeble and uncoordinated.

    The Path of Daggers Jordan, Robert, 1948- 1998

  • If an inhibited child has an "insecure" tie with an unaccepting mother, however, his agitation is fed by her discomfort; the more she urges him to play with the clown, the greater his stress.

    How We Become What We Are 1994

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