pullulate
[ puhl-yuh-leyt ]
/ ˈpʌl yəˌleɪt /
verb (used without object), pul·lu·lat·ed, pul·lu·lat·ing.
to send forth sprouts, buds, etc.; germinate; sprout.
to breed, produce, or create rapidly.
to increase rapidly; multiply.
to exist abundantly; swarm; teem.
to be produced as offspring.
RELATED CONTENT
RELATED WORDS
prosper, brim, crowd, burst, flow, swell, abound, pour, shower, swarm, produce, jam, overrun, bear, bristle, rain, overflow, crawl, grow, bustle
Nearby words
- pullman kitchen,
- pullman, george mortimer,
- pullorum disease,
- pullout,
- pullover,
- pullulation,
- pullus,
- pulmo,
- pulmo-,
- pulmoaortic
Origin of pullulate
1610–20; < Latin pullulātus (past participle of pullulāre to sprout), derivative of pullulus a sprout, young animal, diminutive of pullus; see pullet
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for pullulate
The parties too, that already began to pullulate, were not better satisfied with the issue of the Champ de Mai.
Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. II|Fleury de Chaboulon.
pullulate
/ (ˈpʌljʊˌleɪt) /
verb (intr)
(of animals, etc) to breed rapidly or abundantly; teem; swarm
(of plants or plant parts) to sprout, bud, or germinate
Word Origin for pullulate
C17: from Latin pullulāre to sprout, from pullulus a baby animal, from pullus young animal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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pullulate
1610s, from Latin pullulatus, past participle of pullulare "put forth, grow, sprout, shoot up, come forth," from pullulus, diminutive of pullus "young animal" (see foal (n.)). Related: Pullulated; pullulating.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper