HIBERNATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hibernation mean? 

• HIBERNATION (noun)
  The noun HIBERNATION has 3 senses:

1. the torpid or resting state in which some animals pass the winter

2. cessation from or slowing of activity during the winter; especially slowing of metabolism in some animals

3. the act of retiring into inactivity

  Familiarity information: HIBERNATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HIBERNATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The torpid or resting state in which some animals pass the winter

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("hibernation" is a kind of...):

torpidity; torpor (a state of motor and mental inactivity with a partial suspension of sensibility)

Derivation:

hibernate (sleep during winter)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cessation from or slowing of activity during the winter; especially slowing of metabolism in some animals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("hibernation" is a kind of...):

dormancy; quiescence; quiescency (a state of quiet (but possibly temporary) inaction)

Derivation:

hibernate (sleep during winter)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of retiring into inactivity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he emerged from his hibernation to make his first appearance in several years

Hypernyms ("hibernation" is a kind of...):

retirement (withdrawal from your position or occupation)

 Context examples 

This was how the animals’ brains survived the reduced blood flow caused by hibernation.

(Hibernating ground squirrels provide clues to new stroke treatments, National Institutes of Health)

It was placed in hibernation in 2011 after its primary mission was completed.

(Asteroid-Hunting Spacecraft Delivers a Second Year of Data, NASA)

Launched in March 2004, Rosetta was reactivated in January 2014 after a record 957 days in hibernation.

(Rosetta closing in on comet, NASA)

To investigate the biological factors supporting the squirrel’s cold adaptation, researchers created “hibernation in a dish”.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

Currently, the only ways to activate brown fat are to put people in the cold to mimic hibernation, which is both impractical and unpleasant, or to treat them with drugs known as adrenergic agonists, but these can cause heart attacks.

(Study in mice suggests drug to turn fat ‘brown’ could help fight obesity, University of Cambridge)

Researchers at the National Eye Institute have discovered cellular mechanisms that help the 13-lined ground squirrel survive hibernation.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

Recently, researchers found that a cellular process called SUMOylation goes into overdrive in a certain species of ground squirrel during hibernation.

(Hibernating ground squirrels provide clues to new stroke treatments, National Institutes of Health)

During hibernation, the 13-lined ground squirrel endures near freezing temperatures, dramatically slowing its heart rate and respiration.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

While the animals’ brains experience dramatically reduced blood flow during hibernation, just like human patients after a certain type of stroke, the squirrels emerge from their extended naps suffering no ill effects.

(Hibernating ground squirrels provide clues to new stroke treatments, National Institutes of Health)