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Glite Dictionary
🧬 To start growth 🌱 To add nutrients 💡 To inspire growth
to fertilize

to fertilize

12 3.4
To add plant food to soil or plants to help them grow
  • verb
  • /ˈfɜːrtəlaɪz/
  • US
translation icon : abonar
  • Then, my dad was fertilizing the lawn at 7:00 in the morning.
  • fertilize the soil
  • fertilize fields
  • fertilize crops

Would have all the servants feces reused to fertilize the royal gardens.

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Examples

  • I mean, start fertilizing it, start watering it, maybe start over.

  • The ashes themselves are probably of little consequence and may even help to fertilize cropland downstream.

    Academic text (1993)

  • But then the question is, well, how fast after I fertilize, should I start seeing results?

    MIgardener

  • Be sure to fertilize all this.

    Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

  • Did you just fertilize or have you not fertilized yet?

    MIgardener

  • They're going to fertilize the yard.

    Ferdinand (2017)

  • That should fertilize the soy beans.

    Wolves (2014)

  • The right side is planted with a ryegrass cover crop that has been fertilized.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Alvarez said he has even mowed the grass and fertilized the lawn at the park.

    Blog text (4)

  • To improve your garden's yield, you should fertilize the plants regularly.

Synonyms

to feed
vsto fertilize
870 1.0

To give food to a person, animal, or plant

is limited to adding nutrients for plant or soil growth rather than food
to enrich the soil
vsto fertilize
1 3.2

Add compost or other nutrients to soil to make it better for growing plants

is the act of adding nutrients specifically to support plant growth
to fertilize the plant
vsto fertilize
  • US
1 2.3

To add plant food to help a plant grow

is the overall process of adding nutrients to soil or plants
to fertilize the field
vsto fertilize
  • US
3.3

Add plant food to the soil so crops grow better

is the general act of putting nutrients on soil or plants to help growth
to impregnate the soil
vsto fertilize
  • Specialized
5.8

To add nutrients to soil so plants grow better

focuses on adding nutrients to help growth rather than on chemical processes
to fecundate
vsto fertilize
  • Specialized
9.9

To make a living thing able to have babies or produce fruit

applies mainly to growing plants and soil rather than biological reproduction
to nutrify
vsto fertilize
8.8

To give nutrients that help a person, animal, or plant grow

is about supplying nutrients to soil or plants specifically for growth
to nitrify
vsto fertilize
  • Specialized
9.8

To add nitrogen fertilizer to soil to help plants grow

is simply adding nutrients to help plants grow, not a specific chemical process

Antonyms

to deplete
13 6.3

To use up almost all of something so little is left

Phrasal Verbs

to fertilize the plant
  • US
1 2.3

To add plant food to help a plant grow

to fertilize the field
  • US
3.3

Add plant food to the soil so crops grow better

How Fertilized

to fertilize
  • US
12 3.4
to feed
870 1.0

Surface Forms

fertilize infinitive
fertilized past
fertilized past participle
fertilizing present participle
fertilizes third person singular

Morphology

fertilize = fertile (transparent) = fertile + ize

Derived via the productive suffix '-ize' from 'fertile' meaning 'to make or supply with nutrients', which directly matches this practical gardening sense.

Etymology

Fertilize comes from fertile, from the Latin fertilis, meaning 'fruitful' or 'to bear', so to fertilize soil is to give it food so plants can grow and 'bear' crops.