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actuates

verb

present tense third-person singular of actuate
1
as in activates
to cause to function a light actuated by a motion detector the alarm system actuates the door locks

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in drives
to set or keep in motion hearing depends on sound vibrations that actuate the complex mechanism of that sensory organ, the ear

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for actuates
  1. activates
  2. drives
  3. triggers
  4. moves
  5. sparks
Verb
  • One of those earlier findings was that the ectoderm of the early embryo activates two genes, one in the front half of the embryo, one in the back.
    — JOHN TIMMER, ArsTechnica, 23 Sep. 2026
  • When the thermostat calls for cooling, the PLC activates the actuator, which physically presses the window unit’s power button.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of activates
Verb
  • For many in the industry, a tentpole feature is one that costs more than $100 million to produce, often exceeding $200 million or $250 million, and that drives significant traffic to movie theaters.
    — Sarah Whitten, CNBC, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Beyond the gore, there’s room to explore who these people are and what drives them.
    — Marta Balaga, Variety, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of drives
Verb
  • Chemical spill triggers evacuation Michigan State Police personnel assisted the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office at the crash site.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Database lookup triggers Agent C, which calls out to an external API and writes results to cloud storage.
    — Nicola Sfondrini, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of triggers
Verb
  • Santiago’s next hearing is scheduled for September 21, the first of what could be a lengthy series of court proceedings as the case moves forward.
    — Julianna Bragg, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Central Florida will see more widespread showers and thunderstorms this weekend and into next week as a disturbance moves across the region and brings additional moisture, according to the National Weather Service in Melbourne.
    — Keily Alfonzo, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of moves
Verb
  • As the rapid development of artificial intelligence sparks renewed debate about its risks, the United States and China keep racing to build increasingly powerful models.
    — Chan Ho-Him, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Unfortunately, a cartel gets involved, and plenty of action sparks from there.
    — William Earl, Variety, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of sparks
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

actuated
actuates
actuating
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Cite this Entry

“Actuates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/actuates. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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