irrigate

American  

[ir-i-geyt] / ˈɪr ɪˌgeɪt /

verb (used with object)

• irrigates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• irrigated,
  past participle,  past
• irrigating
  present participle

1. to supply (land) with water by artificial means, as by diverting streams, flooding, or spraying.

2. Medicine/Medical. to supply or wash (an orifice, wound, etc.) with a spray or a flow of some liquid.

3. to moisten; wet.

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irrigate British  

/ ˈɪrɪˌɡeɪt /

verb

1. to supply (land) with water by means of artificial canals, ditches, etc, esp to promote the growth of food crops

2. med to bathe or wash out a bodily part, cavity, or wound

3. (tr) to make fertile, fresh, or vital by or as if by watering

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• irrigation
  noun
• irrigator
  noun
• overirrigate
  verb (used with object)
• reirrigate
  verb (used with object)
• irrigable
  adjective
• irrigational
  adjective
• nonirrigated
  adjective
• nonirrigating
  adjective
• unirrigated
  adjective
• well-irrigated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• irrigating
  present
• irrigated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• irrigate
  simple
• irrigates
  simple
• have irrigated
  perfect
• has irrigated
  perfect
• am irrigating
  progressive
• are irrigating
  progressive
• is irrigating
  progressive
• have been irrigating
  perfect progressive
• has been irrigating
  perfect progressive

Past

• irrigated
  simple
• had irrigated
  perfect
• was irrigating
  progressive
• were irrigating
  progressive
• had been irrigating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will irrigate
  simple
• will have irrigated
  perfect
• will be irrigating
  progressive
• will have been irrigating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of irrigate

1605–15; < Latin irrigātus, past participle of irrigāre to wet, flood, nourish with water, equivalent to ir- ir- ¹ + rigā- (stem of rigāre to provide with water, soak) + -tus past participle suffix

Explanation

To irrigate is to supply with water, usually with ditches and channels that allow the water to flow. Irrigating is a type of watering that is important in one field in particular: farming. If a farmer has a huge number of crops, you can see how getting water to them could be difficult. The farmer irrigates by digging little channels that allow hard-to-reach spots to receive water. If there is a drought, irrigating will have to happen often to save the crops. People with large gardens might need to irrigate as well. Irrigating waters plants, keeping them alive.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

irrigate irrigates irrigated irrigating

A water source gets contaminated in some way, and that water is then used to irrigate a field.

From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026

Then you’d have to add on the costs to irrigate and maintain the fields.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

Built to provide electricity for the southwestern United States and to irrigate Nevada, it was the great cause of Herbert Hoover.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026

"The Andes mountains, with their winter snow and glaciers, feed the rivers and streams that flow into the valley to irrigate our crops," she explains.

From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026

He had heard the doctor tell the white nurse to irrigate my head with Epsom salts and warm water every two or three hours or I wouldn’t make it.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals

A water system irrigates the plants via a nutrient substrate, a liquid fertiliser that replaces the nutrients and minerals naturally present in the soil.

From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026

Nearby, water pumped from the Ogallala Aquifer irrigates fields of peanuts and cotton.

From Salon ● May 7, 2024

And because most pumped groundwater irrigates crops, major declines in availability could lead to a global food crisis.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 25, 2023

It also irrigates California’s powerful agriculture industry while providing drinking water to 25 million people.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 14, 2023

Well, Jennie does all her winter gardening in that, heats and irrigates it directly from the kitchen.

From The Girl Scouts at Bellaire Or Maid Mary's Awakening by Lilian Garis

For golf courses this means the greens and tees can be irrigated but the fairways cannot.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Janssen explained that 200 units of nitrogen are used per acre of irrigated corn.

From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2026

The property features three creeks that “meander through the ranch for over five miles,” as well as irrigated meadows and “historic water rights irrigating 1,200 acres.”

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 23, 2025

They added that much of the Southern California farmland that relies on Colorado River water is “either fully or partially irrigated via flood irrigation, which uses much more water than drip and sprinkler irrigation.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2025

Even the wholesale transformation seen in places like Peru, where irrigated terraces cover huge areas, were exceptionally well done.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

It's essential to the entire operation here: irrigating young plants, spraying fertilizers and plowing the soil.

From Barron's ● Apr. 11, 2026

When that saved water is pumped from wells, it flows via canals and pipes to the fields of about 120 growers, irrigating onions, peaches, almonds, pistachios, potatoes, tomatoes and other crops.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2026

The property features three creeks that “meander through the ranch for over five miles,” as well as irrigated meadows and “historic water rights irrigating 1,200 acres.”

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 23, 2025

He had to start irrigating his fields in March.

From BBC ● May 14, 2025

Men and boys who were already in the fields irrigating looked up, laughing, and the women of Milagro watched O. J. come and go from their front doorsteps or parlor windows.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

Related Words

• inundate
• soak