fertilize
Americanverb (used with object)
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fertilizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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fertilized,
past participle, past
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fertilizing
present participle
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Biology.
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to render (the female gamete) capable of development by uniting it with the male gamete.
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to fecundate or impregnate (an animal or plant).
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to make fertile; enrich.
to fertilize farmland.
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to make productive.
verb
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to provide (an animal, plant, or egg cell) with sperm or pollen to bring about fertilization
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to supply (soil or water) with mineral and organic nutrients to aid the growth of plants
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to make fertile or productive
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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fertilizabilitynoun
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overfertilizeverb (used with object)
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prefertilizeverb (used with object)
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refertilizeverb (used with object)
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fertilizableadjective
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refertilizableadjective
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unfertilizableadjective
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unfertilizedadjective
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unfertilizingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fertilizesimple
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fertilizessimple
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have fertilizedperfect
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has fertilizedperfect
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am fertilizingprogressive
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are fertilizingprogressive
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is fertilizingprogressive
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have been fertilizingperfect progressive
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has been fertilizingperfect progressive
Past
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fertilizedsimple
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had fertilizedperfect
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was fertilizingprogressive
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were fertilizingprogressive
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had been fertilizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fertilize
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:
They can fertilize themselves, producing offspring that are genetically identical.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026
And “if they fertilize the lawn around the pool, all that water that’s running in there is adding nitrogen and phosphorus,” she says.
From Slate ● Jun. 27, 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
Composting turns organic material, like food scraps, into a nutrient-rich mixture that can be used to fertilize new plants and crops.
From Salon ● Jan. 22, 2025
Dr. Zamborska says that the chemicals it takes to keep the pool, golf course, and grounds lovely would fertilize the wheat fields of a small nation.
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
Dusky farmerfish in East Asia grow “crops” of red algae by assiduously “weeding out less palatable foods” and have effectively domesticated a type of shrimp whose waste fertilizes the algae and boosts yields.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
By examining infrared light -- wavelengths invisible to the naked eye -- these incredibly precise images reveal how dust fertilizes the universe after being heated by both massive young stars and surrounding interstellar space radiation.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 17, 2024
The business-nature of professional sports continually fertilizes that feeling.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 12, 2023
In mammals, offspring are produced when males’ sperm fertilizes females’ eggs.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 1, 2023
The animal also spreads grass seed, plants it with his hooves, and then fertilizes it with his manure.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
While no one is certain whether the eggs are developing normally — or even if they are fertilized — their hatching would be a first for the nation’s West Coast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
That is, it’s low if you go through the full process of having your eggs retrieved at 44, fertilized, and then an embryo implanted.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
The researchers began by attempting to record development in 100 fertilized mouse eggs.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
He was enamored with the Russian giants, writing in 1953 that “those fertilized by both Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, who understand them both equally well,” have “an always formidable nature, with themselves and with others.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
She raked away our dead leaves, spaded new soil around us, and watered and fertilized.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
Farmers have mostly had to do their own work turning data from Deere’s operations center into actionable information for harvesting, fertilizing or equipment use.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
The additional effort he puts in—seeding, watering, fertilizing, aerating—is a reflection of his professional work ethic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
The dung beetle, which disperses seeds as it rolls its dung balls, fertilizing topsoil and enhancing biodiversity and engineering its environment, normally orients itself using the Milky Way and the moon.
From Salon ● Apr. 15, 2025
California currently does not require insurance companies to cover fertility treatment, including IVF, which involves collecting eggs from ovaries, fertilizing them with sperm in a lab and then implanting them in a uterus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2024
So little evidence has emerged of Indians fertilizing with fish that some archaeologists believe that Tisquantum actually picked up the idea from European farmers.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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