vaccinate

verb

vac·​ci·​nate ˈvak-sə-ˌnāt 

vaccinated; vaccinating

transitive verb

: to administer a vaccine to usually by injection

intransitive verb

: to perform or practice vaccination

vaccinator

ˈvak-sə-ˌnā-tər 

noun

Examples of vaccinate in a Sentence

We vaccinate all the animals that come to our shelter.

Recent Examples on the Web

The work took advantage of the fact that the National Health Service Wales made the vaccine available with a very specific age limit, essentially creating two populations, vaccinated and unvaccinated, separated by a single date. —John Timmer, ArsTechnica, 3 Apr. 2025

Virtually none of those who had a birthday in the week prior to the cutoff received the shingles vaccine, while 47 percent of those who were eligible opted to get vaccinated. —Rachel Nuwer, Scientific American, 2 Apr. 2025

If that budget is cut, that translates to 75 million children not getting vaccinated. —Alice Park, Time, 2 Apr. 2025

Reaching that threshold can prevent rampant infections in a community and protects those with health conditions that preclude them from being vaccinated. —Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 2 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

earlier, "to inoculate with fluid from a cowpox pustule," back-formation from vaccination; in later extended sense, in part borrowed from French vacciner, verbal derivative of vaccin vaccine

First Known Use

1882, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Kids Definition

vaccinate

verb

vac·​ci·​nate ˈvak-sə-ˌnāt 

vaccinated; vaccinating

: to give a vaccine to usually by injection

vaccinator

-ˌnāt-ər 

noun

Medical Definition

vaccinate

1 of 2 verb

vac·​ci·​nate ˈvak-sə-ˌnāt 

vaccinated; vaccinating

transitive verb

1

: to inoculate (a person) with cowpox virus in order to produce immunity to smallpox

2

: to administer a vaccine to usually by injection

intransitive verb

: to perform or practice vaccination

vaccinate

2 of 2 noun

vac·​ci·​nate ˈvak-sə-ˌnāt  -nət 

: a vaccinated individual