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fixate

 - 5 dictionary results

fix⋅ate

  [fik-seyt] verb, -at⋅ed, -at⋅ing.
Use fixate in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to fix; make stable or stationary.
–verb (used without object)
2. to become fixed.
3. Psychoanalysis. to develop a fixation; suffer an arrest in one's emotional or sexual development.
Origin:
1880–85; < L fix(us) fixed, firm (see fix ) + -ate 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To fixate
fix·ate   (fĭk'sāt')   
v.   fix·at·ed, fix·at·ing, fix·ates

v.   tr.

  1. To make fixed, stable, or stationary.

  2. To focus one's eyes or attention on: fixate a faint object.

  3. To command the attention of exclusively or repeatedly; preoccupy obsessively: "TV and newspapers were fixated on high-technology as the solution to almost everything" (Jay Walljasper).

  4. Psychology

    1. To attach (oneself) to a person or thing in an immature or neurotic fashion.

    2. In classical psychoanalysis, to cause (the libido) to be arrested at an early stage of psychosexual development.

v.   intr.

  1. To focus the eyes or attention.

  2. Psychology

    1. To become attached to a person or thing in an immature or pathological way; form a fixation.

    2. To be arrested at an early stage of psychosexual development.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

fixate  (v.)
1926, originally in Freudian theory, a back-formation from fixation (1393), an alchemical word which had been used in the Freudian sense since 1910; see fix.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: fix·ate
Pronunciation: 'fik-"sAt
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: fix·at·ed; fix·at·ing
transitivesenses
1 : to focus one's gaze on
2 : to direct (the libido) toward an infantile form of gratification fixate intransitive senses
1 : to focus or concentrate one's gaze or attention fixate on a light held before him —Journal of the American MedicalAssociation>
2 : to undergo arrestment at a stage of development
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

fixate fix·ate (fĭk'sāt')
v. fix·at·ed, fix·at·ing, fix·ates

  1. To make fixed, stable, or stationary.

  2. To focus one's eyes or attention on.

  3. To develop a fixation; become attached to in an immature or neurotic way.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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