resuscitation

noun

re·​sus·​ci·​ta·​tion ri-ˌsə-sə-ˈtā-shən 

ˌrē-

plural resuscitations

: an act or process of resuscitating someone or something:

a

medical : the act or an instance of reviving someone from apparent death or from unconsciousness

The EMS response times were generally fast in both groups, but successful prehospital resuscitations were not associated with significantly shorter response times than those reported in cases of refractory cardiac arrest.

—Arthur L. Kellermann et al.

… resuscitation techniques differ from other procedures in medicine in that they are usually performed only in critical situations, and thus the opportunities to learn and practice them are inherently limited.

—Jeffrey P. Burns et al.

see also cardiopulmonary resuscitation

b

: the act or an instance of restoring someone or something to an active or flourishing state

Punk may not be dead, but it certainly could use some resuscitation. And that's where Anthrax comes in.

—Craig Tomashoff

His resuscitation is evident in the 1982 reissue of his autobiography, "An Artist in America."

—Grace Glueck

Synonyms

• reanimation
• rebirth
• regeneration
• rejuvenation
• rejuvenescence
• renewal
• resurgence
• resurrection
• revitalization
• revival
• revivification

Examples of resuscitation in a Sentence

the actor's appearance in a hit movie has led to the resuscitation of a career that had been on life support

Recent Examples on the Web

Despite resuscitation efforts from Read and paramedics, O’Keefe was pronounced dead at a local hospital of blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia, according to NBC News. —Lynsey Eidell, People.com, 19 June 2025

Rebooting a horror franchise is a thankless task that usually fails, but 2022's resuscitation of meta-horror series Scream hit all the right notes. —K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 6 June 2025

Jeffries’s resuscitation of the push to ban congressional stock trading this month marks some of the strongest support from a House leader for the issue in years. —Emily Brooks, The Hill, 15 Apr. 2025

If there’s a certain sameness to many medical memoirs—first baby delivered, first death, first resuscitation, first recognition that medicine cannot always cure—that doesn’t necessarily detract from readers’ fascination. —Danielle Ofri, New Yorker, 7 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing resuscitation

• cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• mouth-to-mouth resuscitation

Rhymes for resuscitation

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration

Kids Definition

resuscitation

noun

re·​sus·​ci·​ta·​tion

ri-ˌsəs-ə-ˈtā-shən

: an act or procedure that attempts to resuscitate

also : the state of being resuscitated compare cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Medical Definition

resuscitation

noun

re·​sus·​ci·​ta·​tion ri-ˌsəs-ə-ˈtā-shən, rē- 

: an act of resuscitating or the state of being resuscitated

resuscitation by means of artificial respiration or cardiac massage

see cardiopulmonary resuscitation