fertilize
Americanverb (used with object)
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Biology.
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to render (the female gamete) capable of development by uniting it with the male gamete.
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to fecundate or impregnate (an animal or plant).
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to make fertile; enrich.
to fertilize farmland.
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to make productive.
verb
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to provide (an animal, plant, or egg cell) with sperm or pollen to bring about fertilization
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to supply (soil or water) with mineral and organic nutrients to aid the growth of plants
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to make fertile or productive
Other Word Forms
- fertilizability noun
- fertilizable adjective
- overfertilize verb (used with object)
- prefertilize verb (used with object)
- refertilizable adjective
- refertilize verb (used with object)
- unfertilizable adjective
- unfertilized adjective
- unfertilizing adjective
Etymology
Origin of fertilize
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Instead, he’d thrown himself into keeping the mushroom alive: fertilizing the surrounding trees so they’d offer more shade, digging tiny channels to direct rainwater, building a fence.
From Literature
After four hours in simulated zero gravity, the number of successfully fertilized mouse eggs dropped by 30 per cent compared to normal Earth conditions.
From Science Daily
In addition to rising fuel costs, farmers in the Central Valley say they are stockpiling fertilizer and looking for otherways to fertilize their crops.
From Los Angeles Times
The flies develop quickly in flowing waters, where females will lay 200 to 500 fertilized eggs at a time.
From Los Angeles Times
The results strongly suggest the crops were fertilized with seabird guano, which is rich in nitrogen because seabirds feed on marine life.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
