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inspire

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Inspire is defined as to influence, motivate or produce a feeling.

(verb)

An example of inspire is the effect explorer Ernest Shackleton had on his crew of men when their boat was crushed while exploring Antarctica in the early 1900s.

See inspire in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb inspired, inspiring

Obsolete
1. to breathe or blow upon or into
2. to infuse (life, etc. into) by breathing
to draw (air) into the lungs; inhale
to have an animating effect upon; influence or impel; esp., to stimulate or impel to some creative or effective effort
to cause, guide, communicate, or motivate as by divine or supernatural influence
to arouse or produce (a thought or feeling): kindness inspires love
to affect with a specified feeling or thought: to inspire someone with fear
to occasion, cause, or produce
to prompt, or cause to be written or said, by influence: to inspire a rumor

Origin: ME inspiren < OFr inspirer < L inspirare < in-, in, on + spirare, to breathe: see spirit

intransitive verb

to inhale
to give inspiration

Related Forms:

inspirable adjective
inspirer noun

See inspire in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb in·spired, in·spir·ing, in·spires

verb, transitive

To affect, guide, or arouse by divine influence.
To fill with enlivening or exalting emotion: hymns that inspire the congregation; an artist who was inspired by Impressionism.
a. To stimulate to action; motivate: a sales force that was inspired by the prospect of a bonus.
b. To affect or touch: The falling leaves inspired her with sadness.
To draw forth; elicit or arouse: a teacher who inspired admiration and respect.
To be the cause or source of; bring about: an invention that inspired many imitations.
To draw in (air) by inhaling.
Archaic
a. To breathe on.
b. To breathe life into.