estivation

es·ti·va·tion also aes·ti·va·tion  (st-vshn)

n.

1. The act of spending or passing the summer.

2. Zoology A state of dormancy or torpor during the summer.

3. Botany The arrangement of flower parts in the bud.

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estivation  (st-vshn)

An inactive state resembling deep sleep, in which some animals living in hot climates, such as certain snails, pass the summer. Estivation protects these animals against heat and dryness. Compare hibernation.

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estivation, aestivation

Obsolete, summering; the taking of a summer holiday.

See also: Recreation

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the arrangement of petals in a flower before it opens; prefloration. Also aestivation.

See also: Flowers

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the practice of certain animals of sleeping throughout the summer. Cf. hibernation.

See also: Zoology

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	estivation - (zoology) cessation or slowing of activity during the summer; especially slowing of metabolism in some animals during a hot or dry period aestivation zoological science, zoology - the branch of biology that studies animals dormancy, quiescence, quiescency - a state of quiet (but possibly temporary) inaction; "the volcano erupted after centuries of dormancy"
	2.	estivation - (botany) the arrangement of sepals and petals in a flower bud before it opens aestivation phytology, botany - the branch of biology that studies plants arrangement - an orderly grouping (of things or persons) considered as a unit; the result of arranging; "a flower arrangement" flower bud - a bud from which only a flower or flowers develop