semi-hibernation

Noun

semi-hibernation (plural semi-hibernations)

1. A state of reduced power consumption, and metabolic activity in animals during winter, but to a lesser degree than true hibernation.
   • Should a warm day soon follow this untoward excitement, the after effects are to a certain extent modified, as a good cleansing flight can be taken; but when the cold still continues, the bees never again being able to regain their former state of semi-hibernation, drag out their existence...1914, Samuel Simmins, A Modern Bee-farm and Its Economic Management, page 111
   • They are fed exclusively on insects which are caught on the wing by the parents; if there is a spell of bad weather the parents cannot collect their insects, the young swifts starve, lose their temperature regulation and go into a sort of semi-hibernation at a very low body temperature.2009 September 23, G. E. W. Wolstenholme, Maeve O'Connor, editors, The Nature of Sleep, Wiley, page 321