Definition of "estivate" []

• To spend the summer, as at a special place. (verb-intransitive)
• Zoology To pass the summer in a dormant or torpid state. (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.

• "They hibernate — they estivate and they hibernate — until the following January, when you will have forgotten what a pain it was to follow the show week after unrewarding week, and you'll be able to feel excited by the return of the boinging theme music, and the old panel of judges, who will file in wearily and act pained that they have to sit through it all again."
• "I am going to put a layer of leaf mold and ice cubes in the basement and estivate."
• "I'll bet snails can estivate for a really long time, especially desert forms that only rarely encounter damp conditions."