irrigate

[ ir-i-geyt ]

/ ˈɪr ɪˌgeɪt /

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See synonyms for: irrigate / irrigated on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), ir·ri·gat·ed, ir·ri·gat·ing.

to supply (land) with water by artificial means, as by diverting streams, flooding, or spraying.

Medicine/Medical. to supply or wash (an orifice, wound, etc.) with a spray or a flow of some liquid.

to moisten; wet.

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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

OTHER WORDS FROM irrigate

ir·ri·ga·tor, nounnon·ir·ri·gat·ed, adjectivenon·ir·ri·gat·ing, adjectiveo·ver·ir·ri·gate, verb (used with object), o·ver·ir·ri·gat·ed, o·ver·ir·ri·gat·ing.

re·ir·ri·gate, verb (used with object), re·ir·ri·gat·ed, re·ir·ri·gat·ing.un·ir·ri·gat·ed, adjectivewell-ir·ri·gat·ed, adjective

Words nearby irrigate

irreverent, irreversible, irrevocable, irrevocably, irrigable, irrigate, irrigation, irrigative, irriguous, irritability, irritable

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use irrigate in a sentence

Its enormous share of the river, which it uses to irrigate crops across the Imperial Valley and for Los Angeles and other cities, will be in the crosshairs when negotiations over a diminished Colorado begin again.
40 Million People Rely on the Colorado River. It’s Drying Up Fast.|by Abrahm Lustgarten|August 27, 2021|ProPublica
Mountain View Estates was paved and irrigated, as per permitted plans, and the electricity to the units was properly metered, and the units themselves were new, with central air conditioning, to efficiently keep cool.
Postcard From Thermal: Surviving the Climate Gap in Eastern Coachella Valley|by Elizabeth Weil and Mauricio Rodríguez Pons|August 17, 2021|ProPublica
Consider that we use just 30 trillion gallons to irrigate all our crops.
How Stupid Is Our Obsession With Lawns? (Ep. 289 Rebroadcast)|Stephen J. Dubner|July 1, 2021|Freakonomics
Once these plants take hold, they can be irrigated much less frequently than lawns—maybe once every six weeks if it hasn’t rained.
It’s time to rip up your lawn and replace it with something you won’t need to mow|John Kennedy|June 27, 2021|Popular-Science

The Kushites survived another thousand years in Meroë, a port city ideally positioned by the Nile, where irrigated farms flourished next to lucrative gold and iron mines.
The Empires You Didn’t Learn in School|Sean Culligan|March 24, 2021|Ozy
Treadle water pumps in Africa and Asia allowed women farmers to irrigate small plots and increase their harvests and incomes.
Women | Tools | Technology: A Global Leapfrog, An ExxonMobil-sponsored Series|Daily Beast Promotions|March 2, 2011|DAILY BEAST
From this cistern large earthen pipes led off in various directions to irrigate the terraces below.
Overland|John William De Forest
It is in a hot valley, skirted by a river, which is made to irrigate the gardens and grounds on its borders.
The Indian in his Wigwam|Henry R. Schoolcraft
If water was tapped, it went to irrigate new lands which MacGonigal had added to the ranch.
The Terms of Surrender|Louis Tracy
It is enormously fertile, but there is only enough water in it to irrigate a limited number of farms.
Still Jim|Honor Willsie Morrow
His every idea seems hostile to the farmer, whose land the farmer himself is paying him to irrigate.
Still Jim|Honor Willsie Morrow

British Dictionary definitions for irrigate

irrigate

/ (ˈɪrɪˌɡeɪt) /

verb

to supply (land) with water by means of artificial canals, ditches, etc, esp to promote the growth of food crops

med to bathe or wash out a bodily part, cavity, or wound

(tr) to make fertile, fresh, or vital by or as if by watering

Derived forms of irrigate

irrigable, adjectiveirrigation, nounirrigational or irrigative, adjectiveirrigator, noun

Word Origin for irrigate

C17: from Latin irrigāre, from rigāre to moisten, conduct water

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

irrigate

Origin of irrigate

OTHER WORDS FROM irrigate

Words nearby irrigate

Words related to irrigate

How to use irrigate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for irrigate

Derived forms of irrigate

Word Origin for irrigate