reactivate

verb

re·​ac·​ti·​vate (ˌ)rē-ˈak-tə-ˌvāt 

reactivated; reactivating; reactivates

1

transitive : to activate (something or someone) again

… turning the dough (gently folding it over onto itself between the first and second rises) reactivates the yeast without pressing out as much air.

—Erika Bruce

: such as

a(1)

: to restore (an organized group such as a military unit) to an active state (as from a state of disorganization or deactivation)

(2)

: to restore (an individual) to active duty

He was reactivated after 9/11 and sent to Afghanistan for a year.

—Pam Kragen

(3)

: to cause (something such as an industrial plant, society, program, or commission) to function again after a suspension of activity

Started in 1987 and reactivated two years ago, the Leadership Shelby County program takes the participants through the process of developing and launching efforts to improve the community.

—John Walker

b

psychology : to cause (something such as a repressed complex) to reappear in consciousness or behavior

Feelings of inferiority were reactivated by the experience.

c

medical : to cause (a quiescent disease) to become active again

tuberculosis that was reactivated by fatigue

2

intransitive : to become active again

… a painful nerve and skin disorder that occurs when the immune system weakens in older people and the virus, which never entirely leaves the body, reactivates.

—Alison L. Sprout

Examples of reactivate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

When the mouse encounters the shock again in that region, the same neurons appear to reactivate. —William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024

Using fresh colorectal cancer samples, the researchers discovered that the iron in red meat reactivated the enzyme telomerase via an iron-sensing protein called Pirin, which drove the progression of the cancer. —New Atlas, 24 Oct. 2024

For this, the Haitian government should reactivate the currently dormant National Commission for Disarmament, Dismantlement, and Reintegration. —Renata Segura, Foreign Affairs, 29 Aug. 2024

In 1951, Luke Field was reactivated as Luke Air Force Base. —Shelby Slade, The Arizona Republic, 15 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

reactivate

transitive verb

re·​ac·​ti·​vate (ˈ)rē-ˈak-tə-ˌvāt 

reactivated; reactivating

: to activate again : cause to be again active or more active: as

a

: to cause (as a repressed complex) to reappear in consciousness or behavior

persecution feelings reactivated by new social failures

b

: to cause (a quiescent disease) to become active again in an individual

a herpes infection reactivated by physical and emotional stresses

c

: to restore complement to (an inactivated serum) by addition of fresh normal serum