Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to incubate ideas

to incubate ideas

6.1
To let ideas grow slowly before you act
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈɪŋkjʊˌbeɪt aɪˈdiəz/
translation icon : gestar ideas
  • To improve the team's output, the manager encouraged everyone to incubate ideas before presenting their proposals.

Examples

  • The think tank's goal is to incubate ideas that can lead to innovative solutions for social issues.

  • Government support plays a vital role in incubating new ideas that are harvested by the private sector, sometimes many years later, creating companies and jobs.

    Blog text (14)

  • In her quiet studio, she would spend hours to incubate ideas for her next art project, allowing them to evolve over time.

Synonyms

to gestate
vsto incubate ideas
  • Formal
3 7.5

To think about an idea for a long time until it becomes clear

allows maturation over time rather than only private mental development
to incubate
vsto incubate ideas
  • Jargon
3 5.5

Help new businesses or projects grow by giving advice and space

lets ideas mature over time without needing structured programme support
to keep ideas fallow
vsto incubate ideas
8.6

To leave ideas unused for a while so they can grow and be used later

allows gradual development rather than leaving them inactive to mature

Antonyms

to rush
403 1.0

To make a person or thing move quickly

How Developed

to finalize
  • US
74 3.8
to refine
93 4.0
to develop
668 1.8
to incubate ideas
6.1
to mull over
19 4.0
to think about
∞ 1.0
to note
951 1.6

Surface Forms

incubate infinitive
incubated past
incubated past participle
incubating present participle
incubates third person singular

Morphology

incubate + idea

The verb 'incubate' means to allow or provide conditions for development and, when combined with 'ideas' (concepts), yields the straightforward meaning 'let ideas develop and mature.' This metaphorical extension from biological incubation to nurturing concepts is readily inferable and cross-linguistically common, so a learner who knows both constituent words should understand the phrase.

Etymology

Incubate ideas comes from the image of the verb incubate, which means keeping eggs warm so they slowly grow and hatch. So to incubate ideas means to give your ideas time to develop and become ready before you act on them.