Definition of "habituate" [ha•bit•u•ate]

• To accustom by frequent repetition or prolonged exposure. (verb-transitive)
• To cause physiological or psychological habituation, as to a drug. (verb-intransitive)
• Psychology To experience habituation. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Emotional rewards from novel stimuli are processed by dopamine receptors in the striatum, but the brain is designed to habituate, that is, not get so excited by repeated stimuli."
• "Human beings "habituate" to repetitive light-stimuli light flickering light."
• "The authors say that the command-and-control approach often used with dogs never works with cats (and will likely spur them to escape their harness and dash off), so it's important to know how to motivate them, how to reassure them when they get nervous, and how to habituate them to the sometimes-scary sounds and sights of the great outdoors."