Meaning & use
hibernation
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
A dormant, sleep-like state that some animals enter during winter to save energy.
Grammar: Used without 'a' or a plural: 'Hibernation lasts for months.'
Patterns
- go into hibernation
- come out of hibernation
- during hibernation
Bears go into hibernation in late autumn.
During hibernation, the animal's heart rate drops dramatically.
The groundhog came out of hibernation in early spring.
noununcountablefigurativeinformal
A state of inactivity or rest, especially when someone is not doing much for a period.
Grammar: Often used figuratively in informal speech: 'The project went into hibernation.'
Patterns
- go into hibernation
- in hibernation
After the election, the campaign went into hibernation.
My social life goes into hibernation every winter.
Common combinations
- go into hibernation
- Squirrels go into hibernation when the weather turns cold.
- come out of hibernation
- The bats came out of hibernation in April.
- deep hibernation
- Some rodents fall into deep hibernation for weeks.
- winter hibernation
- Winter hibernation helps them survive when food is scarce.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
Commonly confused: hibernation or estivation?
hibernation vs estivation
Estivation is a similar dormant state in hot, dry summer weather, not winter.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'hibernation' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Hibernation' is uncountable, so it takes no article and no plural. 'A hibernation' and 'the hibernation' are wrong because the word is not used with articles in this sense, and 'hibernations' is not a standard plural.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hibernation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.