agitate
Direct German Translations & Equivalents:
Click any term below to jump straight to its full vocabulary entry in German:
Verb Conjugation Tables & Inflections
Definitions & Usage
(transitive) To disturb or excite; to perturb or stir up (a person).
(transitive) To cause to move with a violent, irregular action; to shake.
To participate in political agitation (sense 3).
(transitive, obsolete) To set in motion; to actuate.
(transitive, now rare) To mull over, or think deeply about; to consider, to devise.
Notable Literary & Historical Quotes
“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”
— 1830, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford:
“NAMBLA is working to build a coalition of gay, lesbian, progressive and civil liberties groups to agitate against the increasing state attacks on gay men who associate with boys.”
— 1981 August 1, Mitzel, “NAMBLA Says National Crackdown Starting”, in Gay Community News, page 3:
“Your speech at the time a bill for the regency was agitated now lies before me.”
— 1790, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Men: