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suspended animation

noun

Definition of suspended animation

1 : temporary suspension of the vital functions (as in persons nearly drowned)
2 : a condition (such as inactivity) likened to suspended animation

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Examples of suspended animation in a Sentence

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

  2. 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 of suspended animation from the Web

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'suspended animation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of suspended animation

1787

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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SUSPENDED ANIMATION Defined for English Language Learners

suspended animation

noun

Definition of suspended animation for English Language Learners

  • : a state in which the processes of the body (such as blood circulation) stop or become very slow for a period of time while a person or animal is unconscious

Medical Dictionary

suspended animation

noun sus·pend·ed animation \ sə-ˈspend-əd- \

medical Definition of suspended animation

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

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