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hibernate

[hahy-ber-nayt] / ˈhaɪ bərˌneɪt /
VERB
lie dormant; sleep through cold weather
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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In “Rare Bird” a woman in 18th-century England finds pleasure in the company of a new friend, who helps her test a claim from the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus that swallows hibernate underwater.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

Though fence lizards don’t hibernate, they become sluggish in winter, which is why these days, warmed by the sun and driven by the urge to mate, they’re once more appearing all over.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2025

Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that, after infecting a person, tend to hibernate in the body.

From Slate ● Mar. 28, 2025

The insects, an important pollinator, normally hibernate through winter into spring.

From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2025

We had been worked so hard and fed so little all our bodies wanted to do was hibernate, like bears.

From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz

Its full life cycle remains a mystery, but it probably includes a cyst stage that hibernates on the lake bottom until it’s triggered to divide and release new cells.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 21, 2023

That kind of fervor doesn’t fade; it just hibernates.

From New York Times ● Feb. 14, 2020

As the temperature cools, the Harlequin hibernates for the winter in buildings - including homes.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2018

A white dwarf star gathers hydrogen from its neighbor for 100,000 years, erupts, hibernates, goes through a dwarf-nova stage — and does it all over again, possibly for a billion years.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 30, 2017

Come summer he gets dozy and hibernates through to autumn, and I can speak a bit better.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

The glove maker’s plant utilization rates are above 96%, excluding hibernated plants, he notes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026

"Blue-tongued skinks hibernated under the garage and at night blue-banded and teddy-bear bees slept in the hedges under the front window," Dr Holden said.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 8, 2023

Aristotle thought that some birds such as swallows hibernated in the colder months and that others transformed into different species—redstarts turned into robins for the winter, he proposed.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 15, 2022

Without Thompson — and largely without Curry, who broke his hand and missed all but five games — Golden State hibernated through the 2019-20 season, finishing with the worst record in the league.

From New York Times ● Oct. 19, 2021

And so, in her own way, the robot hibernated.

From "The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown

Backpack, the winning bear, after months of eating to gain weight ahead of hibernating in winter.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

He has the Bruins 4-0 and has roused their hibernating fan base and infused it with hope and belief and good vibes — everything that’s lacking from Riley’s program.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

My default seems to be crawling into myself and hibernating with warm, soft-baked Pillsbury chocolate chip cookies with a glass of oat milk.

From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2025

For instance, the increase in temperatures prevented bats from hibernating in the provinces of Tarragona.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 6, 2024

Another favorite described how he inadvertently bedded down beside five hibernating bears in a Canadian cave.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand


Vocabulary lists containing hibernate

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