resuscitate

verb

re·​sus·​ci·​tate ri-ˈsə-sə-ˌtāt 

resuscitated; resuscitating

transitive verb

: to revive from apparent death or from unconsciousness

also : revitalize

intransitive verb

: come to, revive

resuscitative

ri-ˈsə-sə-ˌtā-tiv 

adjective

Did you know?

The 16th century was a good one for words ending in the suffix -ate. Not only did our featured word, resuscitate, breathe life into the English language but so did the verbs anticipate ("to give advance thought, discussion, or treatment to"), eradicate ("to do away with completely"), estimate ("to esteem" or "to appraise"), and perpetuate ("to make perpetual"). It was a good century for words about words, too—vocabulary, quip, and hearsay all premiered as well.

Synonyms

• freshen
• recharge
• recreate
• refresh
• refreshen
• regenerate
• rejuvenate
• renew
• repair
• restore
• revitalize
• revive
• revivify

Examples of resuscitate in a Sentence

The patient stopped breathing but doctors were able to resuscitate him.

she hopes to resuscitate the currently defunct charity organization

Recent Examples on the Web

China has announced a raft of measures to resuscitate a plateauing economy, even as the country's new premier warns its legions of bureaucrats to gird themselves for a period of fiscal austerity ahead. —Emily Feng, NPR, 5 Mar. 2024

López has accomplished the uncommon feat of resuscitating a franchise that didn’t deserve saving. —Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2024

Paramedics transported Marcus to Research Medical Center, where doctors also tried to resuscitate him without success and pronounced him dead. —Samantha Latson, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024

Despite a $400 million plan from Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and city business leaders aimed at resuscitating downtown, office attendance remains below 50 percent, storefronts sit vacant and anxiety over the future of the District’s core has continued to climb. —Marissa J. Lang, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024

Efforts to resuscitate all three dogs were unsuccessful. —CBS News, 12 Mar. 2024

There, an emergency room physician tried to resuscitate Mitchell for more than three hours but was unsuccessful, according to the complaint. —Julia Marnin, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024

An ambulance crew tried to resuscitate Navalny for more than half an hour on Friday, Labytnang City Hospital told state-run media RIA Novosti. —Anna Chernova, CNN, 16 Feb. 2024

Four years earlier, Black voters had resuscitated his campaign. —Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin resuscitatus, past participle of resuscitare to reawaken, from re- + suscitare to rouse, from sub-, sus- up + citare to put in motion, stir — more at sub-, cite

First Known Use

1532, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

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Kids Definition

resuscitate

verb

re·​sus·​ci·​tate ri-ˈsəs-ə-ˌtāt 

resuscitated; resuscitating

1

: to bring back from apparent death or from unconsciousness

2

: revive sense 1

Medical Definition

resuscitate

transitive verb

re·​sus·​ci·​tate ri-ˈsəs-ə-ˌtāt 

resuscitated; resuscitating

: to revive from apparent death or from unconsciousness

resuscitate a nearly drowned person by artificial respiration