gestate

American  

[jes-tayt] / 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”

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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

If “The Moment” had more time to gestate, it would likely be a much sharper and shocking satire.

From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2026

New work takes time to gestate, and already this play has left a haunting mark.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2024

They will then try to create an embryo carrying that modified DNA that could gestate in an African elephant “surrogate” or an artificial uterus.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 16, 2022

Like their sea horse cousins, male sea dragons gestate a female’s fertilized eggs in a pouch.

From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2022

Is he not justified in the conclusion that the nerves do gestate and send forth all substances that are applied by nature in the construction of man?

From Philosophy of Osteopathy by A. T. (Andrew Taylor) Still

They gestated 36 weeks, a good time for triplets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026

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

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

“Jiggle Jiggle” gestated for years before it became all the rage.

From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2022

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 Hudson Tuttle

"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

These tools also allow women tasked with gestating children, caring for infants, and doing housework to not be completely consumed by it.

From Slate ● Jan. 20, 2026

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

Long before the emergence of a winged protagonist who transports powerful orbs across the mysterious landscape of Cocoon, the adventure video game was an abstract computer science exercise gestating in its creator’s head.

From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2023

Never tempt me to write, for while the thing is gestating I am a brute, moody, irritable, unhappy.

From The Gorgeous Isle A Romance; Scene: Nevis, B.W.I. 1842 by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

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