irrigate

[ ir-i-geyt ]
See synonyms for: irrigateirrigated on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),ir·ri·gat·ed, ir·ri·gat·ing.
  1. to supply (land) with water by artificial means, as by diverting streams, flooding, or spraying.

  2. Medicine/Medical. to supply or wash (an orifice, wound, etc.) with a spray or a flow of some liquid.

  1. to moisten; wet.

Origin of irrigate

1
1605–15; <Latin irrigātus, past participle of irrigāre to wet, flood, nourish with water, equivalent to ir-ir-1 + rigā- (stem of rigāre to provide with water, soak) + -tus past participle suffix

Other words from irrigate

  • ir·ri·ga·tor, noun
  • non·ir·ri·gat·ed, adjective
  • non·ir·ri·gat·ing, adjective
  • o·ver·ir·ri·gate, verb (used with object), o·ver·ir·ri·gat·ed, o·ver·ir·ri·gat·ing.
  • re·ir·ri·gate, verb (used with object), re·ir·ri·gat·ed, re·ir·ri·gat·ing.
  • un·ir·ri·gat·ed, adjective
  • well-ir·ri·gat·ed, adjective

Words Nearby irrigate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use irrigate in a sentence

  • Treadle water pumps in Africa and Asia allowed women farmers to irrigate small plots and increase their harvests and incomes.

  • From this cistern large earthen pipes led off in various directions to irrigate the terraces below.

    Overland | John William De Forest
  • It is in a hot valley, skirted by a river, which is made to irrigate the gardens and grounds on its borders.

    The Indian in his Wigwam | Henry R. Schoolcraft
  • If water was tapped, it went to irrigate new lands which MacGonigal had added to the ranch.

  • It is enormously fertile, but there is only enough water in it to irrigate a limited number of farms.

    Still Jim | Honor Willsie Morrow
  • His every idea seems hostile to the farmer, whose land the farmer himself is paying him to irrigate.

    Still Jim | Honor Willsie Morrow

British Dictionary definitions for irrigate

irrigate

/ (ˈɪrɪˌɡeɪt) /


verb
  1. to supply (land) with water by means of artificial canals, ditches, etc, esp to promote the growth of food crops

  2. med to bathe or wash out a bodily part, cavity, or wound

  1. (tr) to make fertile, fresh, or vital by or as if by watering

Origin of irrigate

1
C17: from Latin irrigāre, from rigāre to moisten, conduct water

Derived forms of irrigate

  • irrigable, adjective
  • irrigation, noun
  • irrigational or irrigative, adjective
  • irrigator, noun

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