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hydroponics

[hahy-druh-pon-iks]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hydroponics ON THESAURUS.COM

noun (used with a singular verb)

the cultivation of plants by placing the roots in liquid nutrient solutions rather than in soil; soilless growth of plants.Compare aeroculture, geoponics(def 2).

Origin of hydroponics

First recorded in 1935–40; hydro-1 + (geo)ponics
Related formshy·dro·pon·ic, adjectivehy·dro·pon·i·cal·ly, adverbhy·drop·o·nist [hahy-drop-uh-nist] /haɪˈdrɒp ə nɪst/, hy·dro·pon·i·cist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hydroponics

gardening, cultivation, culture, production, breeding, agriculture, grazing, ranching, landscaping, operating, threshing, growing, harvesting, feeding, homesteading, reaping, gleaning, tillage, agronomy, hydroponics

Examples from the Web for hydroponics

Historical Examples of hydroponics

  • If it wasn't for hydroponics and the Ag Culture controls, we'd be licked right now.

    This Crowded Earth

    Robert Bloch

  • I guess you'd say that there were a lot of jobs in the aquariums and the hydroponics gardens.

    Captives of the Flame

    Samuel R. Delany

  • All the sailors on the ship must have had hydroponics or its equivalent on the brain.

    Cue for Quiet

    Thomas L. Sherred

  • To the left lay the hydroponics tanks, and to the right, the mutants' cubicles.

    Earth Alert!

    Kris Neville

  • Then we made a dash for hydroponics, toward the rear of the ship.

    Let'em Breathe Space

    Lester del Rey

British Dictionary definitions for hydroponics

hydroponics

noun

(functioning as singular) a method of cultivating plants by growing them in gravel, etc, through which water containing dissolved inorganic nutrient salts is pumpedAlso called: aquiculture
Derived Formshydroponic, adjectivehydroponically, adverb

Word Origin for hydroponics

C20: from hydro- + (geo) ponics
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for hydroponics
n.

1937, formed in English from hydro- + -ponics, from Greek ponein "to labor, toil," from ponos "labor" (see span (v.)). Related: Hydroponic (adj.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
hydroponics in Science

hydroponics

[hī′drə-pŏn′ĭks]

The cultivation of plants in a nutrient-rich solution, rather than in soil, and under controlled conditions of light, temperature, and humidity. Also called aquaculture
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
hydroponics in Culture

hydroponics

[(heye-druh-pon-iks)]

Cultivating plants in an artificial environment in which the necessary nutrients are carried to the roots in a liquid mixture.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.