cultivate

verb cul·ti·vate \ ˈkəl-tə-ˌvāt \

|Updated on: 20 Jul 2018

Examples: cultivate in a Sentence

Definition of cultivate

cultivated; cultivating

transitive verb

1 : to prepare or prepare and use for the raising of crops

Some fields are cultivated while others lie fallow.

; also : to loosen or break up the soil about (growing plants)

2 a : to foster the growth of

cultivate vegetables

cultivate coffee

b : culture 2a

cultivate oysters for pearls

c : to improve by labor, care, or study : refine

cultivate the mind

… cultivated a reputation as a hard-core wheeler-dealer …
—Kit Boss

3 : further, encourage

cultivate the arts

4 : to seek the society of : make friends with

looking for influential people to cultivate as friends

—

cultivatable

play \ˈkəl-tə-ˌvā-tə-bəl\ adjective

See cultivate defined for English-language learners

See cultivate defined for kids

Examples of cultivate in a Sentence

Prehistoric peoples settled the area and began to cultivate the land.
Some of the fields are cultivated while others lie fallow.
a plant that is cultivated for its fruit
They survived by cultivating vegetables and grain.
He has carefully cultivated his image.
She cultivated a taste for fine wines.

Recent Examples of cultivate from the Web

But unlike marijuana, hemp is particularly cultivated to have low levels of THC.

— karen pilarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Six things you might be asking about hemp," 13 July 2018
Erika Elliott, the executive arts director of New York’s SummerStage (and the longest-standing program director in the festival’s history), said women aren’t cultivated to be headlining artists in the same way as their male counterparts.

— jessica lipsky, Billboard, "Latin Women Take The Reins: Insights From the Latin Alternative Music Conference," 13 July 2018
That sense of responsibility to the court and Constitution may have been cultivated from a young age by her parents: Her father was a law professor, and her mother a judge.

— kristen chick, The Christian Science Monitor, "By staying on the job, Poland's top judge fights the right-wing government," 13 July 2018
Though this grape is cultivated all over the world, no country is more closely connected to its success or failure, shame or fame.

— lettie teague, WSJ, "The Pro Move? Order the German Riesling," 5 July 2018
Kenneth Setzer Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Bambusa vulgaris — common bamboo — is a fast-growing, clumping bamboo, and has been cultivated into some wild forms lest it become too common.

— kenneth setzer, miamiherald, "Need to screen off your neighbors? Here's how to grow a green privacy barrier," 27 June 2018
If that sounds like Bungie and Activision's Destiny, that's likely no accident; Destiny has been immensely successful even as it's cultivated a very opinionated (and sometimes very angry) fanbase.

— julie muncy, WIRED, "January Is the New November, and Other Surprising E3 Trends," 15 June 2018
The potato has been cultivated for thousands of years, way before the times of the Incas, when varieties and creation were stronger.

— noelle carter, latimes.com, "A world renowned chef on cooking what may be Peru's most famous food — and it's probably in your kitchen," 24 May 2018
Healthy Pharms was allowed to reopen its Cambridge retail location April 30 on the condition that no products sold are cultivated or processed at its Georgetown facility.

— linda greenstein, BostonGlobe.com, "Georgetown marijuana facility nears reopening," 18 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cultivate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.