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.
But syrup producers do not plant, irrigate, fertilize or use insecticides on their self-sufficient forests.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025
Whether we use it to fertilize a resurgent democracy, or throw it in everyone’s face, including our own, is really up to us.
From Salon • Mar. 6, 2025
“It can be also be used to fertilize terrestrial agriculture, and it’s fantastic because if you grow it out in the ocean, you’re not taking up any land.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2024
"We evaluated several doses and treatment schedules and then determined sperm motility and number in the mice as well as their ability to fertilize females."
From Science Daily • May 23, 2024
Some mutant hermaphrodites lost their self-incompatibility and became able to fertilize themselves—a process exemplified by many fruit trees such as plums, peaches, apples, apricots, and cherries.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
