agitate
AJ-ih-tayt
/ˈædʒ.ɪ.teɪt/
To stir or shake garments vigorously in water to loosen dirt; emotionally, to disturb or excite.
In physical washing, agitation provides mechanical action necessary to dislodge ground-in dirt from fibers.
The story behind the word. Rooted in Latin 'agitare', a frequentative form of 'agere' (to drive or do). It entered English in the 16th century referring to physical motion and later expanded to denote emotional turbulence or social protest.
Word relationships
- churn: Churn implies violent or heavy turning of liquids, whereas agitate describes controlled stirring or shaking.
- stir: Stir is gentle circular movement, whereas agitate often involves rapid, back-and-forth movement.
- soothe: Soothe applies to calming emotional state, opposite to emotional agitation.
- stagnate: Stagnate means to remain still without movement.
Commonly confused with
- aggravate: Aggravate means to make a problem worse, while agitate means to stir up or disturb.
Word family
- agitator (noun): The central column in a washing machine that moves clothes, or a political stirrer.
- agitation (noun): The state or process of being stirred or disturbed.
Collocations
- gently agitate
- agitate the mixture
- mechanically agitate
- wash machine agitator
Example sentences
- "The central post inside top-loading washers is engineered to agitate clothes through soapy water." Washing machine mechanics
- "Gently agitate the woolen sweater by moving it back and forth in lukewarm soapy liquid." Hand-washing advice
Memory hook
An AGITATOR inside a washer gets AGITATED if clothes get tangled. Agitate to shake out the dirt.
When not to use
Do not confuse physical fluid agitation with mere soaking, which involves no movement.
Fun facts
- Front-loading washing machines do not have a central agitator; instead, they rely on gravity tumbling to clean clothes with less wear.
Explore more words
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