self-pollinate
Americanverb (used with or without object)
Etymology
Origin of self-pollinate
First recorded in 1885–90
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.
Infinitely creative, some flowers know what to do when good men are hard to find—they self-pollinate.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
This allows them to self-pollinate instead of relying on birds, insects or other pollinators.
From Salon • Nov. 9, 2023
In rice, seed companies must first develop a strain of plants that can’t self-pollinate.
From Science Magazine • May 17, 2023
The Reginas do not self-pollinate, which is why Fowler needs bees to pick up pollen from other varieties interspersed in the rows — and drop it in the Regina blossoms.
From Seattle Times • May 13, 2022
Because the pollen is shed and blown by the wind, this arrangement makes it difficult for a gymnosperm to self-pollinate.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015
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.
