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View synonyms for excite

excite

[ ik-sahyt ]

verb (used with object)

, ex·cit·ed, ex·cit·ing.
  1. to arouse or stir up the emotions or feelings of:

    to excite a person to anger; actions that excited his father's wrath.

    Synonyms: inflame, kindle, animate, stimulate, awaken, stir

  2. to arouse or stir up (emotions or feelings):

    to excite jealousy or hatred.

    Synonyms: evoke

  3. to cause; awaken:

    to excite interest or curiosity.

  4. to stir to action; provoke or stir up:

    to excite a dog by baiting him.

    Synonyms: ruffle, agitate, disturb

  5. Physiology. to stimulate:

    to excite a nerve.

  6. Electricity. to supply with electricity for producing electric activity or a magnetic field:

    to excite a dynamo.

  7. Physics. to raise (an atom, molecule, etc.) to an excited state.


excite

/ ɪkˈsaɪt /

verb

  1. to arouse (a person) to strong feeling, esp to pleasurable anticipation or nervous agitation
  2. to arouse or elicit (an emotion, response, etc); evoke

    her answers excited curiosity

  3. to cause or bring about; stir up

    to excite a rebellion

  4. to arouse sexually
  5. physiol to cause a response in or increase the activity of (an organ, tissue, or part); stimulate
  6. to raise (an atom, molecule, electron, nucleus, etc) from the ground state to a higher energy level
  7. to supply electricity to (the coils of a generator or motor) in order to create a magnetic field
  8. to supply a signal to a stage of an active electronic circuit
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Other Words From

  • preex·cite verb (used with object) preexcited preexciting
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Word History and Origins

Origin of excite1

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Latin excitāre, from ex- ex- 1 + citāre “to move repeatedly, set in motion, summon” (from ciēre “to arouse, cause to go, move”)
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Word History and Origins

Origin of excite1

C14: from Latin excitāre, from exciēre to stimulate, from ciēre to set in motion, rouse
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Example Sentences

Selin is at first excited by math when she has the idea that it’s a language of pure signs, where there is no space at all between signifier and signified because they’re the same thing.

From Vox

Parents want their children to be excited and inspired, not bullied or devalued.

There’s always a chance developers have a bias towards a technology that they’re comfortable with, or excited to be using.

For my own work, I’m excited at the prospect of concentrating more on the artistic vision and execution and less on triangle counts.

The green stripes are caused when a downpour of electrons excites oxygen atoms.

They excite people, and primaries tend to be dominated by voters who are the most excited.

Sticks and stones may break my bones / but chains and whips excite me.

Condon is proud to be different, to work on the projects that excite him.

“Contact tracing” sounds like something that would excite only the grimmest of health-care operations implementation scientists.

Aurora Snow canvassed the adult industry to see which television shows excite its XXX talent.

When he came out on the stage the applause was tremendous, and enough in itself to excite and electrify one.

But the observation he thoughtlessly uttered in French seemed to excite the peasant's attention.

If a merry dance is produced by the agile bow, its sympathetic tones at once excite a corresponding feeling.

We don't even have real big prizes—just a dinky little spoon sitting up on the mantel-piece to excite us as if it was a tiara.

The man called Shiv was driving Delancy's get-away car at a conservative pace so as not to excite suspicion.

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excitativeexcited