DEACTIVATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does deactivate mean? 

• DEACTIVATE (verb)
  The verb DEACTIVATE has 2 senses:

1. remove from active military status or reassign

2. make inactive

  Familiarity information: DEACTIVATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEACTIVATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they deactivate    ... he / she / it deactivates   
Past simple: deactivated   
Past participle: deactivated   
-ing form: deactivating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remove from active military status or reassign

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The men were deactivated after five years of service

Hypernyms (to "deactivate" is one way to...):

discharge; muster out (release from military service)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

deactivation (breaking up a military unit (by transfers or discharges))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make inactive

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

deactivate; inactivate

Context example:

they deactivated the file

Hypernyms (to "deactivate" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "deactivate"):

paralyse; paralyze (make powerless and unable to function)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

deactivation (the act of deactivating or making ineffective (as a bomb))

 Context examples 

The parasite is transmitted to humans by sandflies, where they survive and proliferate intracellularly by deactivating the macrophage.

(Leishmaniasis Infection Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

Such interactions may activate or deactivate an ion channel in the membrane, and constitute the basis of nerve conduction of impulse.

(Ligand-Independent Ion Channel Activation, NCI Thesaurus)

The repression of the p38 pathway by glucocorticoids occurs through activation of the MAP kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) which dephosphorylates and deactivates p38.

(NFKB Activation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Akt in turn deactivates glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3), leading to activation of glycogen synthase (GYS) and thus glycogen synthesis.

(Insulin/Insulin Receptor Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

Csk (COOH-terminal Src kinase) phosphorylates Lck and deactivates it, opposing the action of CD45.

(CSK Protein Kinase Activation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

As they deactivate, the particles produce light emission.

(Blue Aurorae in Mars’ Sky Visible to the Naked Eye, NASA)

AKT phosphorylates and deactivates Gsk3-beta.

(Beta-Catenin Accumulation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Recovery from light involves the deactivation of the light-activated intermediates: photolyzed rhodopsin is phosphorylated by rhodopsin kinase (RK) and subsequently capped off by arrestin; GTP-binding transducin alpha subunit deactivates through a process that is stimulated by RGS9.

(Phototransduction Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

Similar to genistein, crystalline genistein formulation AXP107-11 increases expression of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), which deactivates protein kinase Akt and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK1 and 3; ERK2 and 1), thereby disrupting PI3K/Akt signal transduction and inducing apoptosis.

(Crystalline Genistein Formulation AXP107-11, NCI Thesaurus)

During evolution, this process has been deactivated because it wasn’t necessary for survival but we successfully managed to bypass the inactivity to achieve the reaction we wanted – splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.

(Scientists pioneer a new way to turn sunlight into fuel, University of Cambridge)