levitate

[ lev-i-teyt ]
See synonyms for levitate on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object),lev·i·tat·ed, lev·i·tat·ing.
  1. to rise or float in the air, especially as a result of a supernatural power that overcomes gravity.

verb (used with object),lev·i·tat·ed, lev·i·tat·ing.
  1. to cause to rise or float in the air.

Origin of levitate

1
1665–75; levit(y) + -ate1, modeled on gravitate

Other words from levitate

  • lev·i·ta·tor, noun

Words Nearby levitate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use levitate in a sentence

  • There were supposed to be men who could levitate—fly through the air at will.

    The Penal Cluster | Ivar Jorgensen (AKA Randall Garrett)
  • They circled the Pentagon with hundreds of protestors and said a magic spell that was supposed to levitate it.

    Little Brother | Cory Doctorow
  • My body seemed to be of ethereal substance, ready to levitate.

    Autobiography of a YOGI | Paramhansa Yogananda
  • My rat cannot levitate cheese-crumbs weighing more than 1.7 grams.

    The Leader | William Fitzgerald Jenkins (AKA Murray Leinster)
  • It was not necessary, he found, to walk into a large bank and simply seemingly levitate the money out the front door.

    The Common Man | Guy McCord (AKA Dallas McCord Reynolds)

British Dictionary definitions for levitate

levitate

/ (ˈlɛvɪˌteɪt) /


verb
  1. to rise or cause to rise and float in the air, without visible agency, attributed, esp formerly, to supernatural causes

  2. (tr) med to support (a patient) on a cushion of air in the treatment of severe burns

Origin of levitate

1
C17: from Latin levis light + -tate, as in gravitate

Derived forms of levitate

  • levitation, noun
  • levitator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012