fertilize
Americanverb (used with object)
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Biology.
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to render (the female gamete) capable of development by uniting it with the male gamete.
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to fecundate or impregnate (an animal or plant).
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to make fertile; enrich.
to fertilize farmland.
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to make productive.
verb
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to provide (an animal, plant, or egg cell) with sperm or pollen to bring about fertilization
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to supply (soil or water) with mineral and organic nutrients to aid the growth of plants
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to make fertile or productive
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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fertilizabilitynoun
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fertilizableadjective
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refertilizableadjective
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unfertilizableadjective
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unfertilizedadjective
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unfertilizingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fertilizesimple
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fertilizessimple
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have fertilizedperfect
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has fertilizedperfect
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am fertilizingprogressive
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are fertilizingprogressive
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is fertilizingprogressive
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have been fertilizingperfect progressive
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has been fertilizingperfect progressive
Past
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fertilizedsimple
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had fertilizedperfect
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was fertilizingprogressive
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were fertilizingprogressive
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had been fertilizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fertilize
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.
In addition to rising fuel costs, farmers in the Central Valley say they are stockpiling fertilizer and looking for otherways to fertilize their crops.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 29, 2026
But syrup producers do not plant, irrigate, fertilize or use insecticides on their self-sufficient forests.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025
Farmers, who used herring to fertilize their fields and subsequently attracted gulls to their farms, joined in the complaints, Anderson adds.
From Salon • Oct. 20, 2024
They can choose to freeze their eggs or fertilize them and freeze embryos — which have a greater likelihood of surviving the thaw later.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 5, 2024
I had planned to fertilize the corn and the soybeans, which were now up.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
Definitions 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.
