FERTILIZE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fertilize mean? 

• FERTILIZE (verb)
  The verb FERTILIZE has 3 senses:

1. provide with fertilizers or add nutrients to

2. make fertile or productive

3. introduce semen into (a female)

  Familiarity information: FERTILIZE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FERTILIZE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they fertilize    ... he / she / it fertilizes   
Past simple: fertilized   
Past participle: fertilized   
-ing form: fertilizing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Provide with fertilizers or add nutrients to

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

feed; fertilise; fertilize

Context example:

We should fertilize soil if we want to grow healthy plants

Hypernyms (to "fertilize" is one way to...):

enrich (make better or improve in quality)

Domain category:

agriculture; farming; husbandry (the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fertilize"):

nitrify (treat (soil) with nitrates)

dung (fertilize or dress with dung)

topdress (scatter manure or fertilizer over (land))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They fertilize the trees

Derivation:

fertilization (making fertile as by applying fertilizer or manure)

fertilizer (any substance such as manure or a mixture of nitrates used to make soil more fertile)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make fertile or productive

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

fecundate; fertilise; fertilize

Context example:

The course fertilized her imagination

Hypernyms (to "fertilize" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

fertilizer (any substance such as manure or a mixture of nitrates used to make soil more fertile)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Introduce semen into (a female)

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

fecundate; fertilise; fertilize; inseminate

Hypernyms (to "fertilize" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fertilize"):

stratify (render fertile and preserve by placing between layers of earth or sand)

bang up; impregnate; knock up; prang up (make pregnant)

impregnate (fertilize and cause to grow)

cross-fertilise; cross-fertilize (cause to undergo cross-fertilization)

cross-pollinate; pollenate; pollinate (fertilize by transfering pollen)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

fertilization (creation by the physical union of male and female gametes; of sperm and ova in an animal or pollen and ovule in a plant)

 Context examples 

A structure consisting of the fertilized and immature ovules ("seeds") and the ovary wall, which may be fleshy (as in the apple) or dry and hard (as in a maple fruit).

(Fruit, Immature, Food and Drug Administration)

A structure consisting of the fertilized and mature ovules ("seeds") and the ovary wall, which may be fleshy (as in the apple) or dry and hard (as in a maple fruit).

(Fruit, Food and Drug Administration)

Either of the two offspring from separately fertilized ova during the same pregnancy.

(Fraternal Twin, NCI Thesaurus)

Excess phosphorus from fertilized cropland frequently finds its way into nearby rivers and lakes.

(Plant gene discovery could help reduce fertilizer pollution in waterways, National Science Foundation)

This strain is commonly used in the generation of transgenic mice due to the fact that the pronuclei of FVB/N fertilized oocytes are prominent, which allows for ease of microinjection.

(FVB/N Mouse, NCI Thesaurus)

This tissue is made of trophoblastic cells, which normally surround the fertilized egg in the uterus and help connect the fertilized egg to the wall of the uterus.

(Gestational trophoblastic disease, NCI Dictionary)

IUDs prevent sperm from fertilizing an egg, and prevent fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus.

(IUD, NCI Dictionary)

The progestin-releasing devices produce changes in endometrial architecture and function that reduce the potential for implantation of a fertilized egg.

(Intrauterine device, NCI Thesaurus)

Intrauterine devices prevent sperm from fertilizing an egg, and prevent fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus.

(Intrauterine device, NCI Dictionary)

In females, it acts on the ovaries to make follicles release their eggs and to make hormones that get the uterus ready for a fertilized egg to be implanted.

(Interstitial cell-stimulating hormone, NCI Dictionary)