Meaning & use
revive
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To bring a person or animal back to consciousness or life.
Grammar: Takes an object: the medic revived the swimmer.
Patterns
- revive someone
- revive a patient
Paramedics revived the man with chest compressions.
A splash of cold water revived her after she fainted.
The vet worked for an hour to revive the newborn foal.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To give new strength or life to something that has weakened.
Grammar: Can take an object (revive the economy) or none (the economy revived).
Patterns
- revive something
- something revives
A good rain revived the dry garden.
The new factory helped revive the town's economy.
His interest in painting revived after the trip.
verbtransitive
To bring back something old, such as a play, custom or law, so it is used again.
Grammar: Used with plays, styles, traditions and rules.
Patterns
- revive a tradition
- revive a show
The theater will revive the musical next spring.
Villagers revived an old harvest festival.
The senator tried to revive the bill after it failed.
Word forms
| third person singular | revives |
|---|---|
| past tense | revived |
| past participle | revived |
| -ing form | reviving |
Common combinations
- revive the economy
- The new rail link may revive the local economy.
- revive a tradition
- The school revived a tradition of singing carols.
- revive someone
- Doctors managed to revive her after the collapse.
- revive interest
- The documentary revived interest in the explorer.
- revive hopes
- A late goal revived the team's hopes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- resuscitate
- Resuscitate is a medical term for restarting breathing or the heartbeat, while revive is broader and everyday.
- restore
- Restore means to return something to an earlier condition, and does not imply it had lost life as revive does.
- revitalize
- Revitalize suggests giving new energy to a system or area and is typically used for places and organizations.
- refresh
- Refresh implies a milder boost for something that is merely tired.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: revive or survive?
revive vs survive
Survive means to stay alive through a danger, while revive means to bring back to life or activity.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'revive' to mean bringing back an old custom?
Choose one answer.
Only the boat parade sentence is about restoring a tradition. The others concern bringing a person or plants back to strength.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “revive”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.