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to repolarize

to repolarize

1 7.9
Return the electrical charge of a cell or device after it is changed
  • verb
  • /ˌriːˈpɒləraɪz/
  • Specialized
: repolarizar
  • Ventricular myocytes must depolarize and repolarize—contract and relax—in unison for maximal pumping efficiency.

Examples

  • If you could place it in your microwave oven, I could repolarize.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The large hyperpolarizing Cl− current through TMEM16B can rapidly repolarize the membrane and shut down the high-threshold CaV channels.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Upon careful inspection, the desires that inform the first two movements of the text reveal themselves as two poles of the basic opposition of Ovid's tale, an opposition that Encina repolarizes in order to structure his play.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The technician needs to repolarize the circuit to restore its functionality.

  • After the power surge, we must repolarize the battery to ensure it works properly.

  • To stabilize the cell's charge, the scientist will repolarize the membrane.

Antonyms

244 4.4

To interrupt normal activity and cause disorder

Surface Forms

repolarize infinitive
repolarized past participle
repolarizing present participle
repolarizes third person singular

Morphology

repolarize = polarize (transparent) = re + polar + ize

This sense is a straightforward case of adding 're-' to 'polarize', meaning to polarize again or restore polarity.

Etymology

Repolarize starts with re- 'again' and uses polar 'pole', like the Earth's north and south poles. So to repolarize something is to put its electrical poles or charges back again after they were changed, which is why technicians repolarize a cell or device to restore its normal charge.