That old dog was dormant for so long he was confused for a furry doormat, but a doormat is likely to stay dormant, or inactive, because it is lifeless: that old dog has some life in him yet.
- Pronunciation: /ˈdɔːmənt/
- English Description: not active or not growing at the present time but able to be active later
- Chinese Translation: 静止的(Jing4 Zhi3 De)
- Spanish Translation: Inactivo
- STORY: Volcanoes are described as dormant when they stay cool for a long time, without spewing hot lava and ash. They may have the ability to come to life, but they remain dormant, or inactive. Dormant comes from French dormir, "to sleep," and it refers to living things that are on a break rather than things that have died. Being dormant is being temporarily at rest, although sometimes, as with some cancer cells, things become permanently — and thankfully — dormant.
EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
Landowners with dormant fields would be compensated for each acre-foot of water that they didn’t use.The New Yorker Apr 27, 2015
Mint, a perennial plant, needs water in the spring to awaken and resume growing after the cold and dormant winter.
P.S: New word description, story and part of "EXAMPLE SENTENCE" are cited in Vocabulary.com