defibrillate
/diːˈfɪbɹɪleɪt/
defibrillate verb: to stop the fibrillation of the heart in order to restore normal contractions, especially by the use of an electric shock.
Verb
defibrillate (third-person singular simple present defibrillates, present participle defibrillating, simple past and past participle defibrillated)
- To stop the fibrillation of the heart in order to restore normal contractions, especially by the use of an electric shock.
- Dynamic typography reinvigorates the storytelling genre by anthropomorphizing fonts, defibrillating calligraphy, creating rhythmic, ambient moodscapes without sacrificing speed or lushness.1999, Artbyte, volume 2
- Though occasionally a “flatliner” can be revived with a defib, it is most commonly used to change the uncoordinated contractions of the heart (fibrillation) into a normal sinus rhythm—that is, to defibrillate the heart.2011, Laurence Street, Introduction to Biomedical Engineering Technology, page 125
Forms of defibrillate
| third-person singular present | defibrillates |
|---|---|
| present participle | defibrillating |
| past participle | defibrillated |
| past | defibrillated |
Origin of defibrillate
From de- + fibrillate.
Words formed from defibrillate
Questions about defibrillate
- What does defibrillate mean?
- Defibrillate means to stop the fibrillation of the heart in order to restore normal contractions, especially by the use of an electric shock.
- What part of speech is defibrillate?
- Defibrillate is a verb.
- How do you pronounce defibrillate?
- Defibrillate is pronounced /diːˈfɪbɹɪleɪt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of defibrillate?
- The past tense of defibrillate is defibrillated.
Words near defibrillate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: defibrillate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-defibrillate.wav.
Cite this entry: “defibrillate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/defibrillate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
