Crossword clues for hibernation
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Hibernation \Hi`ber*na"tion\, n. [Cf. F. hibernation.]
The act or state of hibernating.
--Evelyn.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1660s, from Latin hibernationem (nominative hibernatio) "the action of passing the winter," noun of action from past participle stem of hibernare "to winter, pass the winter, occupy winter quarters;" related to hiems "winter," from PIE *gheim- "snow, winter" (cognates: Sanskrit heman "in winter," Hittite gimmanza, Greek kheima, Old Church Slavonic zima, Lithuanian žiema "winter").
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context biology English) A state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals during winter. 2 (context computing English) A standby state which conserves power without losing the contents of memory. 3 (context space English) To put a spacecraft in a state of minimum power consumption
WordNet
n. the torpid or resting state in which some animals pass the winter
cessation from or slowing of activity during the winter; especially slowing of metabolism in some animals
the act of retiring into inactivity; "he emerged from his hibernation to make his first appearance in several years"
Wikipedia
Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in endotherms. Hibernation refers to a season of heterothermy that is characterized by low body temperature, slow breathing and heart rate, and low metabolic rate. Although traditionally reserved for "deep" hibernators such as rodents, the term has been redefined to include animals such as bears and is now applied based on active metabolic suppression rather than based on absolute body temperature decline. Many experts believe that the processes of daily torpor and hibernation form a continuum and utilize similar mechanisms. Hibernation during the summer months is known as aestivation. Some reptile species ( ectotherms) are said to brumate, or undergo brumation, but any possible similarities between brumation and hibernation are not firmly established. Some insects, such as the wasp Polistes exclamans, hibernate by aggregating together in groups in protected places called hibernacula.
Often associated with low temperatures, the function of hibernation is to conserve energy during a period when sufficient food is unavailable. To achieve this energy saving, an endotherm will first decrease its metabolic rate, which then decreases body temperature. Hibernation may last several days, weeks, or months depending on the species, ambient temperature, time of year, and individual's body condition.
Before entering hibernation, animals need to store enough energy to last through the entire winter. Larger species become hyperphagic and eat a large amount of food and store the energy in fat deposits. In many small species, food caching replaces eating and becoming fat. Some species of mammals hibernate while gestating young, which are either born while the mother hibernates or shortly afterwards.
For example, the female polar bear goes into hibernation during the cold winter months to give birth to her offspring. She loses 15-27% of her pre-hibernation weight and uses stored fats for energy during times of food scarcity, or hibernation. It is evident that pregnant female polar bears significantly increase body mass prior to hibernation, and this increase is further reflected in the weight of their offspring. The fat accumulation prior to hibernation in female polar bears enables them to provide a sufficient and warm, nurturing environment for their newborns.
Hibernation (or suspend to disk) in computing is powering down a computer while retaining its state. Upon hibernation, the computer saves the contents of its random access memory (RAM) to a hard disk or other non-volatile storage. Upon resumption, the computer is exactly as it was before entering hibernation. Like a powered down system, the power source from a system in hibernation can be removed without any state loss risk.
Usage examples of "hibernation".
He certainly did his best to make up for his hibernation during the other six months in the year.
Or life gone underground, gone into hibernation, as happened in deep, foodless winter.
Now, in April, in the spring thaw, the liquidy black muck would be stirring into life after its long winter hibernation.
But at least by now the treekies and the Beguilers would have gone into hibernation for the winter.
In Europe, the brimstone is a harbinger of spring, often emerging from its winter hibernation under dead leaves to revel in the countryside while there is still snow upon the ground.
But if Panne spent too much time in hibernation, brain damage would begin to occur.
The saltwater ice would have melted, releasing the plankton from hibernation, and giving us a small percentage of salt mixed in the freshwater.
Rohan understood enough about hibernation to realize that this temperature was too high for a reversible death, and on the other hand, too low for hypothermal sleep.
The evidence, however, points in the other direction: In experiments performed by the American neurophysiologist Ralph Gerard at the University of Michigan, hamsters were taught to run a simple maze and then chilled almost to the freezing point in a refrigerator, a kind of induced hibernation.
Baxter Bay was a summer tourist spot, but it was also a working fishing village, and unlike Rehoboth Beach, it was not a town in hibernation.
For example, the adolescent ursoids of Vagabond may very shortly go into hibernation.
He certainly did his best to make up for his hibernation during the other six months in the year.
And these communities get larger after snakes, the local top predator of voles, go into hibernation.
The aspens turned yellow on the high slopes and the snow came, ending trapping and sending the tiny rodents which die of bubonic plague, and sometimes carry it dormant in their bodies, into the winter-long sleep of hibernation.
To Colleen, when she drove through the village and saw the dark windows and empty streets, it appeared as though the world around her had gone into hibernation.