v. [f. fīx-us (see FIX a.) + -ATE3.]
1. trans. To fix; to render stable.
1885. G. S. Hall & H. H. Donaldson, Motor Sensations on the Skin, in Mind, X. 560. If there have been several consecutive judgments in one direction, he [the percipient] expects the other direction and often judges on general grounds without laboriously fixating the sensation.
1887. Science, X. 16 Dec., 293/1. The child naturally flits from one sensation to another: to fixate and hold one sensation is an art that must be learned.
2. intr. To become fixed.
1888. Amer. Jrnl. Psychol., I. 506. Some subjects fixate first and then the eyes close, or are closed by the operator, and thus the image or suggestion of sleep is insinuated into the brain.
