Definition of "macerate" [mac•er•ate]

• To make soft by soaking or steeping in a liquid. (verb-transitive)
• To separate into constituents by soaking. (verb-transitive)
• To cause to become lean, usually by starvation; emaciate. (verb-transitive)
• To become soft or separated into constituents by soaking: "His winemaker allowed the juice and skins of the white grapes to macerate together overnight before pressing” ( Gerald Asher). (verb-intransitive)
• A substance prepared or produced by macerating. (noun)

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.

• "For another take on maceration, Jeff Vandermeer, who is clearly some sort of over-achiever he probably was the kid with his hand up in class all the time has done his own bizarre take on the word macerate, along with every other word that was used by the anthology’s contributors."
• "If it is sour fruit, you might want to add sugar to macerate a bit first."
• "Stir the brown sugar into the sliced strawberries and let macerate at room temperature for half an hour or until juicy."