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

About 93 percent of Texas kindergarteners were fully vaccinated against measles last school year, but several districts fell short. — Amelia Mugavero, CBS News, 30 July 2026

About 91% of children are vaccinated by age 2, compared with roughly 93% of kindergartners, according to the CDC. — Janet Loehrke, USA Today, 30 July 2026

One dose provides enough short-term protection that vaccinating twice as many people during an active outbreak saves more lives than giving two doses to half as many people. — Katrine L. Wallace, The Conversation, 29 July 2026

Herd immunity, which once protected even those who could not be vaccinated — the very young, the pregnant, the immunocompromised — is steadily eroding. — Mara Evans, STAT, 27 July 2026

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