irrigate

American  

[ir-i-geyt] / ˈɪr ɪˌgeɪt /

verb (used with object)

irrigated, irrigating

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

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

3. to moisten; wet.

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irrigate British  

/ ˈɪrɪˌɡeɪt /

verb

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

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

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

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Other Word Forms

• irrigable adjective
• irrigation noun
• irrigational adjective
• irrigator noun
• nonirrigated adjective
• nonirrigating adjective
• overirrigate verb (used with object)
• reirrigate verb (used with object)
• unirrigated adjective
• well-irrigated adjective

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

Example Sentences

With practically no fuel left, he is finding it ever harder to harvest and irrigate his crops, relying for power mainly on a solar panel provided by the state.

From Barron's • Feb. 17, 2026

But syrup producers do not plant, irrigate, fertilize or use insecticides on their self-sufficient forests.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025

Early farmers likely took advantage of this consistent flow by digging short canals to irrigate fields and date groves, allowing for productive farming without massive irrigation projects.

From Science Daily • Oct. 27, 2025

The spill affected aquatic life as well as farmers who use the water to irrigate their crops.

From BBC • Aug. 7, 2025

Tiwanaku let the water through, but took enough to irrigate more than seven hundred acres of terraces.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• inundate
• soak