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View synonyms for fertilize

fertilize

[ fur-tl-ahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, fer·ti·lized, fer·ti·liz·ing.
  1. Biology.
    1. to render (the female gamete) capable of development by uniting it with the male gamete.
    2. to fecundate or impregnate (an animal or plant).
  2. to make fertile; enrich:

    to fertilize farmland.

  3. to make productive.


fertilize

/ ˈfɜːtɪˌlaɪz /

verb

  1. to provide (an animal, plant, or egg cell) with sperm or pollen to bring about fertilization
  2. to supply (soil or water) with mineral and organic nutrients to aid the growth of plants
  3. to make fertile or productive
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ˈfertiˌlizable, adjective
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Other Words From

  • ferti·liza·ble adjective
  • ferti·liza·bili·ty noun
  • over·ferti·lize verb (used with object) overfertilized overfertilizing
  • pre·ferti·lize verb (used with object) prefertilized prefertilizing
  • re·ferti·liza·ble adjective
  • re·ferti·lize verb (used with object) refertilized refertilizing
  • un·ferti·liza·ble adjective
  • un·ferti·lized adjective
  • un·ferti·lizing adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of fertilize1

First recorded in 1640–50; fertile + -ize
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Example Sentences

Doctors at NYU Langone saw a 41% year-over-year increase in women fertilizing their eggs.

From Time

With this approach, conventional farming practices such as watering and fertilizing crops are performed at the right place and time, and with the appropriate intensity.

The eggs are moved to the lab, where they are fertilized and the CRISPR molecules are introduced.

My hypothesis is that fertilized plants will be bigger than those that are not fertilized.

The fertilized waters prompt a bloom of phytoplankton that attracts krill—which, despite the crabeaters’ name, is a favorite meal of the seals.

The animals proved to be a great attraction as well as a handy way to fertilize the grass and keep it short.

Some is sold as a liming agent, and some is disposed of in landfills (though it used to be sent to Colorado to fertilize crops).

Their byproduct is used to organically fertilize the food, while the plants naturally clean the fish tanks.

I fertilize them and I shower them, but they stubbornly refuse to do well.

German laws, German language, German civilization are to find no ground for replenishing, no soil to fertilize and make rich.

This is one of the consequences of the Nubians depending upon the overflow of the Nile to fertilize their soil.

This is the most effectual of inventions to fertilize the rich man's fields by the sweat of the poor man's brow.

The fountains of sympathy, of gratitude, of love, were opened; might not these waters prove sufficient to fertilize a life?

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fertilizationfertilizer