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

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

Sheep typically gestate for about 5 months; the lambs that the researchers used were the equivalent of a human fetus at 23 weeks of gestation.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 18, 2023

Mothers not only gestate us and grant us introduction to life, but they can keep giving it to us throughout their years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2023

“Even if we got it genetically perfect, we are still going to have to gestate it in a different species, so why would you think it would be exactly the same?”

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 9, 2022

Thus preparing the upper crust of our earth as a "placenta" ready to gestate plant and animal life.

From The Brain by Alexander Blade

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

Brown began researching robots and robotics, and slowly the story gestated in his mind.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2025

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

It is the labored working of the mass, and the working of the mass brings forth and casts up fanatics, reformers, leaders, when it has gestated them and prepared the way for their birth.

From Youth Challenges by Clarence Budington Kelland

"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 Thomas Adolphus Trollope