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Definition of domesticate
domesticated
;domesticating
transitive verb
1 : to bring into use in one's own country : to bring into domestic use : adopt started to domesticate European customs
2 : to adapt (an animal or plant) to life in intimate association with and to the advantage of humans when humans first domesticated the dog
3 : to cause to become adapted to life in a household : to make fit for domestic life wasn't interested in becoming domesticated
4 : to bring to the level of ordinary people
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Examples of domesticate in a Sentence
Horses and oxen have been domesticated to work on farms.
She jokes that dogs are easier to domesticate than men.
Recent Examples of domesticate from the Web
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The researchers used various measures of bee and colony health for both domesticated and wild bees, a total of 14 tests in all.
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His goal is to convince farmers and other property owners that hardy domesticated rice varieties developed for cold, northern climates on other continents can be grown and harvested for retail sale in Wisconsin.
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The country hasn’t completely failed to domesticate its chip business.
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Fairchild has identified and domesticated some of these jewels of the jungle that can now grow successfully in South Florida.
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Whether the reclusive animals are truly domesticated.)
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Instead, people more or less allowed cats to domesticate themselves.
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The part of us that’s been anesthetized, domesticated, tamed, and kept numb by food, shopping, alcohol, and drugs is now awakening within us.
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But the overall domestication process has been hard for scientists to track, in part because fossils skeletons don’t reveal whether a cat was wild or domesticated.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'domesticate'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of domesticate
see 1domestic
Definition of domesticate
: a domesticated (see 1domesticate 2) animal or plant
Origin and Etymology of domesticate
see 1domestic
DOMESTICATE Defined for English Language Learners
domesticate
playDefinition of domesticate for English Language Learners
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: to breed or train (an animal) to need and accept the care of human beings : to tame (an animal)
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: to grow (a plant) for human use
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: to train (someone) to behave in an appropriate way at home (such as by using good manners, being polite, being helpful, etc.)
DOMESTICATE Defined for Kids
domesticate
playDefinition of domesticate for Students
domesticated
;domesticating
: to bring under the control of and make usable by humans Humans domesticated dogs thousands of years ago.
Learn More about domesticate
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See words that rhyme with domesticate Spanish Central: Translation of domesticate Nglish: Translation of domesticate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of domesticate for Arabic speakers
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