rotate
verb · adjective
Simple meaning
To spin, turn, or revolve something.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rohtaytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹoʊteɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To spin, turn, or revolve something.
Turn outward
intransitive
To advance through a sequence; to take turns.
Plant or grow in a fixed cyclic order of succession
“We rotate the crops so as to maximize the use of the soil.”
transitive
To replace older materials or to place older materials in front of newer ones so that older ones get used first.
transitive
To grow or plant (crops) in a certain order.
adjective
Having the parts spreading out like a wheel; wheel-shaped.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To spin, turn, or revolve something.
Used this way, rotate is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use rotate
- “We rotate the crops so as to maximize the use of the soil.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A mechanism that rotates.
A revolving rod that transmits power or motion.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The time it takes for a specific block of data on a data track to rotate around to the read/write head.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.