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Glite Dictionary
to pullulate with

to pullulate with

9.6
Be full of many people or things
  • phrasal verb
  • Archaic
translation icon : pulular con
  • The market pullulated with eager shoppers as soon as it opened.

Examples

  • The garden pullulates with colorful flowers.

  • The forest pullulates with life during the spring months.

  • After dark, the city pullulates with activity and noise.

  • The city pullulated with tourists last summer.

  • The garden pullulates with colorful flowers in the spring.

  • During the festival, the town square pullulated with excited visitors and street performers.

  • The library pullulates with students preparing for their exams.

Synonyms

to teem
vsto pullulate with
37 6.0

To be full of people, animals, or things

is similar but more formal and less vivid in movement
to abound in
vsto pullulate with
8 3.9

To be full of something in a place

is similar but suggests active swarming rather than just plentiful presence

Antonyms

lack
∞ 1.3

Not having something you need or want

emptiness
14 3.6

A space or place that has nothing in it

How Full

to pullulate with
  • Archaic
9.6
packed with
70 2.5
filled
1.0
full of
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

pullulate with infinitive
pullulated with past
pullulated with past participle
pullulating with present participle
pullulates with third person singular

Morphology

pullulate + with

The verb 'pullulate' means 'to be full of life or activity' and the preposition 'with' marks what something is filled or teeming with, so the combined meaning 'to teem with / be filled with X' is directly compositional. This follows a standard English verb + with construction and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents could infer the meaning (noting that 'pullulate' itself is rare/formal).

Etymology

Pullulate with comes from an old word pullulate meaning 'to sprout' or 'multiply', so picture a garden after rain where new shoots and tiny creatures appear everywhere. That's why pullulate with means 'to be full of' or 'to teem with' people or things.