irrigate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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.
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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
irrigationnoun
-
irrigatornoun
-
overirrigateverb (used with object)
-
reirrigateverb (used with object)
-
irrigableadjective
-
irrigationaladjective
-
nonirrigatedadjective
-
nonirrigatingadjective
-
unirrigatedadjective
-
well-irrigatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
irrigatesimple
-
irrigatessimple
-
have irrigatedperfect
-
has irrigatedperfect
-
am irrigatingprogressive
-
are irrigatingprogressive
-
is irrigatingprogressive
-
have been irrigatingperfect progressive
-
has been irrigatingperfect progressive
Past
-
irrigatedsimple
-
had irrigatedperfect
-
was irrigatingprogressive
-
were irrigatingprogressive
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Chapter 1: The First Americans
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Unit 1: Ecological Systems
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
A water source gets contaminated in some way, and that water is then used to irrigate a field.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
Built to provide electricity for the southwestern United States and to irrigate Nevada, it was the great cause of Herbert Hoover.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
But farmers are drawing heavily from the waterways to irrigate fields parched by the heat.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
"The Andes mountains, with their winter snow and glaciers, feed the rivers and streams that flow into the valley to irrigate our crops," she explains.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
Whether this would be a wise move or not, especially if others in Milagro were willing to irrigate that beanfield, was another question.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
A water system irrigates the plants via a nutrient substrate, a liquid fertiliser that replaces the nutrients and minerals naturally present in the soil.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 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
It also irrigates California’s powerful agriculture industry while providing drinking water to 25 million people.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 14, 2023
The river Nile rises once a year in the month of Elul; it covers all the land, and irrigates it to a distance of fifteen days' journey.
From The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela by Benjamin of Tudela
The property features three creeks that “meander through the ranch for over five miles,” as well as irrigated meadows and “historic water rights irrigating 1,200 acres.”
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 23, 2025
It has argued that just a 2% reduction in the amount of water it gets from the Nile could result in the loss of 200,000 acres of irrigated land.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2025
Having healthy, irrigated California live oak and sycamore trees on your property can save your house, Syphard said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2025
Other scenarios simulate idling irrigated farmland, reducing pumping in areas where groundwater levels are forecast to decrease the most, setting limits on how much groundwater can be pumped and curtailing junior water rights.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2024
I enjoyed looking at the countryside, all colored for me by contrast with Haiti’s—the electric power wires, the irrigated fields.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
It's essential to the entire operation here: irrigating young plants, spraying fertilizers and plowing the soil.
From Barron's ● Apr. 11, 2026
The study, published in Environmental Science and Technology, is part of a broader effort to understand the safety of irrigating crops with municipal wastewater.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 15, 2026
The property features three creeks that “meander through the ranch for over five miles,” as well as irrigated meadows and “historic water rights irrigating 1,200 acres.”
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 23, 2025
He had to start irrigating his fields in March.
From BBC ● May 14, 2025
“Are you or are you not going to stop irrigating that field?” he asked.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
