VEGETATE

vegetate

(verb) propagate asexually; “The bacterial growth vegetated along”

vegetate

(verb) grow or spread abnormally; “warts and polyps can vegetate if not removed”

vegetate

(verb) grow like a plant; “This fungus usually vegetates vigorously”

vegetate

(verb) produce vegetation; “The fields vegetate vigorously”

vegetate

(verb) establish vegetation on; “They vegetated the hills behind their house”

vegetate

(verb) lead a passive existence without using one’s body or mind

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

vegetate (third-person singular simple present vegetates, present participle vegetating, simple past and past participle vegetated)

(of a plant) To grow or sprout.

(of a wart etc) To spread abnormally.

(informal) To live or spend a period of time in a dull, inactive, unchallenging way.

Source: Wiktionary

Veg"e*tate, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Vegetated; p. pr. & vb. n. Vegetating.] Etym: [L. vegetatus, p. p. of vegetare to enliven. See Vegetable.]

1. To grow, as plants, by nutriment imbibed by means of roots and leaves; to start into growth; to sprout; to germinate. See dying vegetables life sustain, See life dissolving vegetate again. Pope.

2. Fig.: To lead a live too low for an animate creature; to do nothing but eat and grow. Cowper. Persons who . . . would have vegetated stupidly in the places where fortune had fixed them. Jeffrey.

3. (Med.)

Definition: To grow exuberantly; to produce fleshy or warty outgrowths; as, a vegetating papule.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition