agitate
agitate
(ædʒɪteɪt )Word forms: 3rd person singular present tense agitates , present participle agitating , past tense, past participle agitated
1. verb
If people agitate for something, they protest or take part in political activity in order to get it.
The women who worked in these mills had begun to agitate for better conditions. [VERB + for]
[Also V, V for n to-inf]agitation (ædʒɪteɪʃən ) uncountable noun [oft N for/against/over n]
At least seventy students were injured in the continuing agitation against the decision.
2. verb
If you agitate something, you shake it so that it moves about.
[formal]All you need to do is gently agitate the water with a finger or paintbrush. [VERB noun]
Its molecules can be agitated by microwave energy.
agitation uncountable noun
Temperature is a measure of the agitation of the molecules of matter.
3. verb
4. See also agitation
