gestate

verb ges·tate \ ˈje-ˌstāt \

|Updated on: 22 Jun 2018

Definition of gestate

gestated; gestating

transitive verb

1 : to carry in the uterus during pregnancy

2 : to conceive and gradually develop in the mind

intransitive verb

: to be in the process of gestation

Recent Examples of gestate from the Web

Actor Bill Murray’s long gestating South Carolina food truck park is finally set to open, according to multiple media outlets in Charleston.

— mark price, charlotteobserver, "Actor Bill Murray's long-planned food truck park is opening this summer in SC," 7 June 2018
One baby that would stand out at the Met Gala was the fetus currently gestating inside Cardi.

— New York Times, "In the Name of Cardi, Let Us Pray," 8 May 2018
By way of contrast, Schrader mentions his old partner Scorsese's recent Silence—another long-gestating auteur film about faith and god and the man making it.

— zach baron, GQ, "Paul Schrader Isn't Done Yet," 18 May 2018
In the late Obama years, entertainers sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement gestated a blend of personal narrative and political rhetoric that gained mainstream traction and produced some sensational works.

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Can Protest Art Get Its Mojo Back?," 7 May 2018
The news that twins were gestating inside me had taken me weeks to absorb, and the sudden shift in my fate was disorienting.

— daniela blei, The Cut, "The History of Talking About Miscarriage," 23 Apr. 2018
The idea for An Inconvenient Sequel was gestating for years before the film came to fruition.

— scott feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Awards Chatter' Podcast — Al Gore ('An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power')," 9 Jan. 2018
Enter Jovan Adepo, who got his start on HBO's The Leftovers before Washington cast him as his son in Fences, his long-gestating film adaptation of the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August Wilson.

— julie kosin, Harper's BAZAAR, "'Fences' Breakout Star Jovan Adepo on Learning from Denzel & Dinner Dates with Viola Davis," 10 Jan. 2017
The initiative has been gestating at least since the election and became a reality with a website and Twitter account several months ago.

— nicole phelps, Vogue, "Yara Shahidi Has “the Audacity to Feel Optimistic”," 23 Apr. 2018

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