saturate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
saturates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
saturated,
past participle, past
-
saturating
present participle
-
to cause (a substance) to unite with the greatest possible amount of another substance, through solution, chemical combination, or the like.
-
to charge to the utmost, as with magnetism.
-
to soak, impregnate, or imbue thoroughly or completely.
to saturate a sponge with water; a town saturated with charm.
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to destroy (a target) completely with bombs and missiles.
-
to send so many planes over (a target area) that the defensive electronic tracking equipment becomes ineffective.
-
to furnish (a market) with goods to its full purchasing capacity.
verb (used without object)
-
saturates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
saturated,
past participle, past
-
saturating
present participle
adjective
noun
verb
-
to fill, soak, or imbue totally
-
to make (a chemical compound, vapour, solution, magnetic material, etc) saturated or (of a compound, vapour, etc) to become saturated
-
(tr) military to bomb or shell heavily
adjective
Synonym Usage
See wet.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
saturatesimple
-
saturatessimple
-
have saturatedperfect
-
has saturatedperfect
-
am saturatingprogressive
-
are saturatingprogressive
-
is saturatingprogressive
-
have been saturatingperfect progressive
-
has been saturatingperfect progressive
Past
-
saturatedsimple
-
had saturatedperfect
-
was saturatingprogressive
-
were saturatingprogressive
-
had been saturatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of saturate
First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin saturātus (past participle of saturāre “to fill”), equivalent to satur- “full, well-fed” ( see sad) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
The verb saturate means to cause something to be fully soaked to the point where it can't take on anything else. A heavy rainstorm can saturate the ground, leaving puddles on the lawn because no more water can be absorbed. The word saturate comes from the Latin word saturatus, meaning "to fill full, sate, drench." Saturate is often used to describe the aftermath of a big rainstorm, but other things can be saturated as well. If you're a workaholic, you might saturate all your free time with work, leaving no time to spend with your family. In chemistry, saturate describes causing one substance, like a solution, to take on the greatest amount of another substance.
Vocabulary lists containing saturate
Tangerine
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The Martian
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
While there is rain this week, it will not be enough to fully saturate the soil and make a difference to the drought situation.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
UAVs are seen as a low-cost way to saturate targets and air defenses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
These creations, often presented as real, saturate social feeds with content ranging from fake Spotify bands to TikTok videos claiming to show explosions on the frontlines in Ukraine.
From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025
“We go in and saturate an area with high visibility and view patrol,” said Sean Duryee, commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, standing at Newsom’s side.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025
I'll saturate the ground with most of the water I have.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
And as the market for these types of businesses saturates, creator-founders can no longer guarantee their brands will succeed off the back of their celebrity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
And as the heavy rain saturates soil and snow, the threat for landslides and avalanches increases.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 28, 2024
Among the restricted or banned books in these states are biographies of Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. No wonder fear saturates publishing.
From Salon ● May 30, 2023
The way water splashes, sloshes, sprays and saturates — in the parlance of the industry — had to be “solved.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 16, 2022
I want so badly to follow them, but the seawater saturates my wings, making it impossible to lift them.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
When soil becomes saturated with moisture, water fills many of the tiny spaces between soil particles, making it more difficult for gases to move through them.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026
She adds that the internet is saturated with free advice on how to get started.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Recent doctoral recipients enter a saturated academic labor market and struggle to find work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
It contends that contemporary culture is overly saturated with collapse, dystopia and fear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
We live in a world saturated with information.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Fumes have travelled into the neighbouring Namur province, where authorities had to ask residents to stop saturating emergency phone lines with reports of the smell.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Sabroso maximizes the visual pop and sharp humor that defines every scene, saturating frames in “see me” colors popping citrusy in one moment and fiery in the next, lifting the cast’s audacious, extreme performances.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2025
That precipitation pushed runoff from the Appalachian Mountains, saturating the soil and knocking over trees.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2024
Could there be a danger of video game adaptations going the same way as Marvel movies and losing audience interest by saturating the market?
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2024
I sniff my school uniform, smelling traces of smoke saturating it, too, mingled with an an- imal smell—the reek of guinea pigs.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
