suspended animation

noun

1

: temporary suspension of the vital functions (as in persons nearly drowned)

2

: a condition (such as inactivity) likened to suspended animation

Synonyms

• abeyance
• cold storage
• deep freeze
• doldrums
• dormancy
• holding pattern
• latency
• moratorium
• quiescence
• suspense
• suspension

Examples of suspended animation in a Sentence

animals that sleep through the winter in a state of suspended animation

the husband's feeling that their love life was in suspended animation while his wife lavished all her attention on the new baby

Recent Examples on the Web

Tessier, meanwhile, focuses exclusively on applying the science of hibernation and suspended animation to organs that are being held for transplantation, to prevent them from being injured in the process. —Deborah Balthazar, STAT, 22 July 2024

Increasingly beset by uncontrollable twitches, loss of balance and hallucinations, patients beg for a return to suspended animation. —Dallas News, 28 June 2022

For the past eight months, the yellow-bellied marmot has been hibernating, existing in suspended animation to survive the bitterly cold winter. —Holly Barker, Discover Magazine, 6 Apr. 2022

With the economy practically in suspended animation at the start of the pandemic, car sales plummeted. —Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Feb. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1787, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

suspended animation

noun

: temporary suspension of the bodily functions necessary to maintain life

Medical Definition

suspended animation

noun

sus·​pend·​ed animation sə-ˈspend-əd- 

: temporary suspension of the vital functions (as in persons nearly drowned)