gestate

American  

[jes-teyt] / ˈdʒɛs teɪt /

verb (used with object)

gestated, gestating

1. to carry in the womb during the period from conception to delivery.

2. to think of and develop (an idea, opinion, plan, etc.) slowly in the mind.

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verb (used without object)

gestated, gestating

1. to experience the process of gestating offspring.

2. to develop slowly.

gestate British  

/ ˈdʒɛsteɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to carry (developing young) in the uterus during pregnancy

2. (tr) to develop (a plan or idea) in the mind

3. (intr) to be in the process of gestating

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Etymology

Origin of gestate

First recorded in 1865–70; from Latin gestātus, past participle of gestāre “to carry about, carry in the womb,” frequentative of gerere “to bear, perform”

Explanation

It's unclear just how long it took for the idea for the website to gestate. Did he think of it right away, or did it take months for him to come up with the idea? When something is gestating, it's literally in the womb, developing into whatever it will be when it's finally born. Other things besides living organisms can gestate, however. Frequently, gestate is used to refer to ideas and plans while they're in the development phase. The idea for a new way to market music to a generation of kids who expect it to be free was gestating for years before iTunes was launched. A gestation period is the time it takes for something to be born. Humans, for example, gestate for nine months.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gestate gestated gestating

As female cicadas lay eggs that gestate for the next 13 or 17 years, it can cause short-term damage to some trees and shrubs.

From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2024

It's surrogacy, or the practice in which someone with a uterus agrees to gestate and deliver a baby on the behalf of other parents.

From Salon ● Feb. 4, 2024

And with smaller indie venues unable to compete for big-name talent, they’re less likely to take chances on sparsely attended scenes that need time to gestate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2023

Chief among these hallmarks of placental mammals is the capacity to birth well-developed young, which gestate for a prolonged period inside the mother before being born in an advanced state.

From Scientific American ● May 17, 2022

We're fighting for time—time for Charlie and his gang to crack the puzzle, time for the Grdznth girls to gestate.

From PRoblem by Nourse, Alan Edward

Latifi, who gestated the book alongside her firstborn, argues that becoming an influencer is the modern pitch to mothers that they can raise a family without sacrificing their careers.

From Salon ● May 10, 2026

Active labor: delivery of a fully gestated person who’s coming out of the womb, viable, at the end of pregnancy.

From Slate ● Apr. 22, 2024

While Johnson had been invited to record closer-to-home before, it took his comfort and confidence in his collaborators to get him to finally cut these songs that gestated over neighborhood walks and late-night guitar-tinkering sessions.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2023

“Malignant” first gestated when Wan and Bisu, who are married, started bouncing around an idea of hers while at home with their dogs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2021

All may have spirits, from the lowest to the highest, holding the same relations to the body in which it is gestated as the spirit of man holds to his physical form.

From Studies in the Out-Lying Fields of Psychic Science by Tuttle, Hudson

"The kicker is within two or three days of giving birth, they fall pregnant again so while they're rearing the first litter, they're gestating the second," Henry says.

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

The couple posed for photos at the event, drawing attention to their gestating bundle of joy by framing and caressing Palvin’s belly.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

I worried about the health of my baby, and what it was doing to her to be gestating with a mother who was so sick and so sad.

From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2024

The ruling, treating an embryo the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute, raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2024

But she is gestating, and gestation with her is always perturbing.

From What I Remember, Volume 2 by Trollope, Thomas Adolphus