irrigate
Americanverb (used with object)
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irrigates,
present (3rd person singular)
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irrigated,
past participle, past
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irrigating
present participle
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to supply (land) with water by artificial means, as by diverting streams, flooding, or spraying.
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Medicine/Medical. to supply or wash (an orifice, wound, etc.) with a spray or a flow of some liquid.
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to moisten; wet.
verb
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to supply (land) with water by means of artificial canals, ditches, etc, esp to promote the growth of food crops
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med to bathe or wash out a bodily part, cavity, or wound
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(tr) to make fertile, fresh, or vital by or as if by watering
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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irrigationnoun
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irrigatornoun
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overirrigateverb (used with object)
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reirrigateverb (used with object)
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irrigableadjective
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irrigationaladjective
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nonirrigatedadjective
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nonirrigatingadjective
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unirrigatedadjective
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well-irrigatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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irrigatesimple
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irrigatessimple
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have irrigatedperfect
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has irrigatedperfect
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am irrigatingprogressive
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are irrigatingprogressive
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is irrigatingprogressive
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have been irrigatingperfect progressive
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has been irrigatingperfect progressive
Past
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irrigatedsimple
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had irrigatedperfect
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was irrigatingprogressive
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were irrigatingprogressive
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had been irrigatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of irrigate
1605–15; < Latin irrigātus, past participle of irrigāre to wet, flood, nourish with water, equivalent to ir- ir- 1 + rigā- (stem of rigāre to provide with water, soak) + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
To irrigate is to supply with water, usually with ditches and channels that allow the water to flow. Irrigating is a type of watering that is important in one field in particular: farming. If a farmer has a huge number of crops, you can see how getting water to them could be difficult. The farmer irrigates by digging little channels that allow hard-to-reach spots to receive water. If there is a drought, irrigating will have to happen often to save the crops. People with large gardens might need to irrigate as well. Irrigating waters plants, keeping them alive.
Vocabulary lists containing irrigate
Civilizations and Peoples of the Fertile Crescent, Lessons 1–2
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Chapter 1: The First Americans
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Unit 1: Ecological Systems
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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.
See Examples For:
We irrigate our lawns and other greenery, which is a boon to the beetles because they need moist landscapes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
If he was to irrigate all his crops to keep them alive, the costs would be so high his cauliflowers, spuds and carrots would be far pricier than supermarket alternatives.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
A water source gets contaminated in some way, and that water is then used to irrigate a field.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
One of the two canals that irrigate it has been shut because the seawater would enter and damage the crops.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
He had heard the doctor tell the white nurse to irrigate my head with Epsom salts and warm water every two or three hours or I wouldn’t make it.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
"Discharges seep into the water, flow into the nearby river that irrigates farmland, and end up in the fruit and vegetables on our plates."
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Nearby, water pumped from the Ogallala Aquifer irrigates fields of peanuts and cotton.
From Salon ● May 7, 2024
And because most pumped groundwater irrigates crops, major declines in availability could lead to a global food crisis.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 25, 2023
The Rio Grande provides water to more than 6 million people in southern Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico and irrigates thousands of square miles of farmland.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2022
Milan, then having a population of two hundred thousand, had turned a great river into the fields,—which to this day irrigates thousands of acres of rice-lands.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 11, No. 68, June, 1863 by Various
The plan is aimed at “maintaining as much irrigated agriculture as possible,” Max Gomberg, of the nonprofit California Water Impact Network, told the board.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
Keep plants irrigated, grass mowed and tree branches 10 feet from chimneys and structures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
They grow salad onions, broccoli and other vegetables on fields nearby, all irrigated by the lake water.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Janssen explained that 200 units of nitrogen are used per acre of irrigated corn.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2026
Even today, the contrast is startling between the desert and the irrigated land, with its lush patchwork of maize, sugar, and fruit trees.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
“Why have a lawn if the only thing I’m irrigating is a tiny patch of grass? Then I just won’t have grass.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
"Farmers have reported issues with spring crops and have had to start irrigating earlier because of the dry soils," a spokesperson said.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
It's essential to the entire operation here: irrigating young plants, spraying fertilizers and plowing the soil.
From Barron's ● Apr. 11, 2026
The state’s action will prohibit landowners from irrigating any additional farmland in this part of La Paz County and require those with high-capacity wells to start reporting how much water they use.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2026
“Jose Mondragon is irrigating his old man’s beanfield over there on the west side.”
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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