brumation
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of brumation
Coined in 1965 by U.S. biologist Wilbur Waldo Mayhew (1920–2014) in his textbook Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology; from Latin brūma “winter solstice, winter” ( brume ( def. ) ) + -tion ( def. )
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.
In California, locals near the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert wait for a tortoise — the aforementioned Mojave Maxine — to emerge from her brumation, or a hibernation-like slumber, in order to predict an early spring.
From Fox News
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens runs a contest to see who can most accurately predict when Maxine will come out of brumation.
From Fox News
The process is known as brumation, according to Loyola University New Orleans’ Center for Environmental Communication.
From Fox News
In brumation, reptiles still have periods where they are active and they do not fall into a deep sleep.
From Fox News
Brumation — similar to hibernation but not to be confused with it — occurs when the alligators “react to a cold environment by slowing their metabolic activity, but certainly not to the deep torpor of true hibernation,” the center explained.
From Fox News
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
