From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishagitatea‧gi‧tate /ˈædʒɪteɪt/ verb 1 [intransitive]PPGARGUE to argue strongly in public for something you want, especially a political or social changeagitate for/against unions agitating for higher payagitate to do something His family are agitating to get him freed.2 [transitive] formalUPSET to make someone feel anxious, upset, and nervous I must warn you that any mention of Clare agitates your grandmother.3 [transitive]LIQUIDSHAKE technical to shake or mix a liquid quickly→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
agitate• He loses his train of thought; this agitates him.• Ceremonial and precedence notably lost most of the power to agitate rulers and governments which they had hitherto possessed.• Mix the two solutions together and agitate the bottle.agitate to do something• His family are agitating to get him home.Origin agitate (1500-1600) Latin past participle of agitare, from agere; → AGENT