reanimate

verb

re·​an·​i·​mate (ˌ)rē-ˈa-nə-ˌmāt 

reanimated; reanimating; reanimates

transitive + intransitive

: to animate or become animated again: such as

a

: to bring (someone or something) back to life or to come back to life

As the defrosting jellyfish seemed to reanimate under the faucet's running water, the restaurant's chef asked if he should salt the boiling water.

—Jason Horowitz

… Nathan would sit in the kitchen … watching Eleanor smoke cigarettes and squeeze lemons into her diet Coke, of which she drank sixty ounces a day—enough, as Major Ray often declared, to reanimate a dead body.

—Michael Chabon

b

: to regain vitality or to restore vigor and zest to (someone or something)

When she reanimates, the words just spill from her, small speedy bubbles sliding under and around each other …

—Andrew Corsello

… serves to reanimate the old debates about the relationship between form and content …

—Jed Perl

reanimation

(ˌ)rē-ˌa-nə-ˈmā-shən 

noun

plural reanimations

… discusses the post-Soviet decline, fall, and reanimation of the notorious Soviet secret police agency.

—Roland Green

This isn't just a captivating retelling; it's a creative reanimation of these indelible characters who are still breathing down our necks across the millennia.

—Ron Charles

Synonyms

• recharge
• regenerate
• rejuvenate
• rekindle
• renew
• resurrect
• resuscitate
• revitalize
• revive
• revivify
• rewake
• rewaken

Examples of reanimate in a Sentence

the new multiplex has begun to reanimate the shabby neighborhood

Recent Examples on the Web

Painstakingly reanimating a digital world A still from The Remarkable Life of IbelinCourtesy of Netflix/World of Warcraft and Blizzard Entertainment Still, Ree needed to reconstruct these events in the world of the video game. —Jake Kring-Schreifels, TIME, 25 Oct. 2024

The single also manages to reanimate and return to the Hot R&B Songs chart. —Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 20 Oct. 2024

Akhtar reanimates this dialectical discussion of artistic freedom in the fraught context of AI. —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2024

Taking collective responsibility for newcomers brings neighbors together and reanimates community life. —Gregory Maniatis, Foreign Affairs, 27 July 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

reanimate

transitive verb

re·​an·​i·​mate (ˈ)rē-ˈan-ə-ˌmāt 

reanimated; reanimating

: to restore to life : revive

reanimation

-ˌan-ə-ˈmā-shən 

noun