stagnate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb stand still
    • Industry will stagnate if we do not stimulate our economy
  2. verb cause to stagnate
    • There are marshes that stagnate the waters
  3. verb cease to flow; stand without moving
    • Stagnating waters
    • blood stagnates in the capillaries
  4. verb be idle; exist in a changeless situation
    idle; slug; laze.
    • The old man sat and stagnated on his porch
    • He slugged in bed all morning

WordNet

Stag"nate intransitive verb
Etymology
L. stagnatus, p.p. of stagnare to stagnate, make stagnant, from stagnum a piece of standing water. See Stank a pool, and cf. Stanch, v. t.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Stagnated ; present participle & verbal noun Stagnating
Definitions
  1. To cease to flow; to be motionless; as, blood stagnates in the veins of an animal; hence, to become impure or foul by want of motion; as, air stagnates in a close room.
  2. To cease to be brisk or active; to become dull or inactive; as, commerce stagnates; business stagnates.
    Ready-witted tenderness . . . never stagnates in vain lamentations while there is any room for hope. Sir W. Scott.
Stag"nate adjective
Definitions
  1. Stagnant. Obs. "A stagnate mass of vapors." Young.

Webster 1913