hibernate

CEFRB2

/ˈhaɪbə(r)ˌneɪt/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To spend winter sleeping in a sheltered place.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To enter a standby state which conserves power without losing the contents of memory.

Examples

  • Many European birds hibernate in the north of Africa.

  • Bears hibernate during the winter.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Also pronounced

  • [ˈhäɪbɚˌneɪt]
  • [ˈhɑɪbəˌnɛɪt]

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To live in seclusion.

  2. To spend the winter in a dormant or inactive state of minimal activity, low body temperature, slow breathing and heart rate, and low metabolic rate; to go through a winter sleep.

More examples

In context

  • Hedgehogs and bears are two of the many mammals that hibernate in winter.

  • Why don't people hibernate?

  • Organisms have developed all sorts of ways of dealing with these variations. They hibernate or estivate or migrate.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Some animals like bears blank all winter long to avoid the cold.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

Borrowed from Latin hībernātus, perfect passive participle of hībernō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from hībernus (“wintry”).