Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to fertilize the plant

to fertilize the plant

1 2.3
To add plant food to help a plant grow
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈfɜːrtəlaɪz ðə plænt/
  • US
translation icon : fertilizar la planta
  • Not sure if I kept over-watering or over-fertilizing the plant.

Examples

  • Changes occurred in the root nodules, where symbiotic bacteria normally accumulate and convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium, which fertilizes the plant.

    Blog text (20)

  • That's why typically when you fertilize the plant available ready to go nutrients are there and will help your plants.

  • Do not neglect the lowly dung beetle rolling her ball of waste to be buried in the sod to feed her larvae as well as to fertilize the plants.

    Academic text (1994)

  • To ensure a healthy garden, make sure to fertilize the plant before the growing season.

  • Every spring, it's important to fertilize the plant to promote lush growth.

  • After watering, remember to fertilize the plant to give it the nutrients it needs.

Synonyms

to feed
vsto fertilize the plant
870 1.0

To give food to a person, animal, or plant

is about adding nutrients to a green organism to promote growth not giving food
to fertilize
vsto fertilize the plant
  • US
12 3.4

To add plant food to soil or plants to help them grow

is focused on giving nutrients to one green organism rather than soil generally
to nutrify
vsto fertilize the plant
8.8

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

is about adding nutrients specifically to a green organism to promote growth

Antonyms

to deplete
13 6.3

To use up almost all of something so little is left

How Fertilized

to fertilize the plant
  • US
1 2.3
to feed
870 1.0

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

fertilize + the + plant

The meaning 'to add nutrients or fertilizer to a plant' is directly and compositionally derived from 'fertilize' (to add nutrients/fertilizer) plus 'plant' (a photosynthetic organism); the definite article 'the' does not affect meaning. This simple verb + object construction is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English composition patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will understand the MWE.

Etymology

Fertilize the plant comes from the simple image of giving extra food to the soil: to fertilize means to add rich material so the plant can grow stronger. So, it means 'to add nutrients to help a plant grow'.