actuate
verb
ac·tu·ate
ˈak-chə-ˌwāt 
-shə-
actuated; actuating
1
: to put into mechanical action or motion
The pump is actuated by the windmill.
2
: to move to action
a decision actuated by greed
Examples of actuate in a Sentence
The pump is actuated by the windmill.
a light actuated by a motion detector
Recent Examples on the Web
Dynamic soft robots To create OCTOID’s modular actuating legs, researchers fabricated active (AL) and passive layers (PL) from cholesteric liquid crystal elastomers (CLCEs) using a bottom-up self-assembly of reactive mesogens, crosslinkers, and chain extenders.
—
Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 26 Oct. 2025
Buttons are logically placed, too—including those that actuate its various drivetrain settings, more on that later—and the touchscreen and digital instrument cluster are of a reasonable size and run easy-to-use, lag-free software.
—Peter Nelson, Forbes.com, 4 June 2025
When the body chamber is inflated, air actuates the robot: Its wings flap downward from their initially flat position.
—Elizabeth Rayne, Ars Technica, 31 Dec. 2024
To enable more precise adjustments, the bike has twin throttle bodies with each pair of cylinders actuated independently.
—New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for actuate
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Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 26 Oct. 2025
Buttons are logically placed, too—including those that actuate its various drivetrain settings, more on that later—and the touchscreen and digital instrument cluster are of a reasonable size and run easy-to-use, lag-free software.
—Peter Nelson, Forbes.com, 4 June 2025
When the body chamber is inflated, air actuates the robot: Its wings flap downward from their initially flat position.
—Elizabeth Rayne, Ars Technica, 31 Dec. 2024
To enable more precise adjustments, the bike has twin throttle bodies with each pair of cylinders actuated independently.
—New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for actuate
Cite this Entry
“Actuate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/actuate. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
actuate
verb
ac·tu·ate
ˈak-chə-ˌwāt
-shə-
actuated; actuating
1
: to put into action
the windmill actuates the pump
2
: to arouse to action
actuated by the hope of winning
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