SINCE 1828
incubate
verb
in·cu·bate
| \ ˈiŋ-kyə-ˌbāt
, ˈin-\
, ˈin-\
incubated;
incubating
Definition of incubate
1a
: to sit on (eggs) so as to hatch by the warmth of the body
b
: to maintain (something, such as an embryo or a chemically active system) under conditions favorable for hatching, development, or reaction
2
: to cause or aid the development of
incubate an idea
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Other Words from incubate
incubative
\ ˈiŋ-kyə-ˌbā-tiv
, ˈin- \
adjective
, ˈin- \
adjective
incubatory
\ ˈiŋ-kyə-bə-ˌtȯr-ē
, -ˌbā-tə-rē , ˈin- \
adjective
, -ˌbā-tə-rē , ˈin- \
adjective
Examples of incubate in a Sentence
The female bird incubates the eggs.
Researchers incubated the cells in the laboratory.
The cultures must incubate for five more days.
The virus will incubate in the body for several days before the patient experiences any symptoms.
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Recent Examples on the Web
The eggs those turkey hens laid in April and early May and incubated for 28 or so days have hatched or are hatching. — Shannon Tompkins, ExpressNews.com, "Texas turkeys thriving after mild, wet spring," 8 June 2019 Bronson, who is one of the people Oram is incubating, specializes in clone plants and seeds. — Otis R. Taylor Jr., San Francisco Chronicle, "For Oakland’s equity pot firms, finding space to grow is slow," 11 June 2018 Hadid and Laham, who met through mutual friends years ago, took time to incubate and perfect the jewelry designs over two years before the official launch last month. — Liana Satenstein, Vogue, "Anwar Hadid Wants Everyone to Wear His Unisex Jewelry Label," 8 Apr. 2019 ConsenSys Labs incubates around 36 spokes, according to an email sent by Shawn Cheng, a partner at Labs. — Bijan Stephen, The Verge, "ConsenSys plans to spin out most of its startups, and it’s going to mean layoffs," 20 Dec. 2018 These were intimate spaces that may, in fact, have helped incubate her very intimate portraits. — Julia Felsenthal, Vogue, "Searching for Myself in Alice Neel’s Radical Portraits," 26 Feb. 2019 Silicon Valley has incubated some of the world’s most successful companies but ask locals where to go for a world-class drink and responses range from blank looks to directions to San Francisco, an hour’s drive north. — Patrick Thomas, WSJ, "Five Bars Disrupting Silicon Valley’s Nightlife," 5 Dec. 2018 Since the financial crisis incubated in the credit markets, investors and economists have watched the growth of debt cautiously. — Aaron Kuriloff, WSJ, "Taking Stock of the World’s Debt," 27 Dec. 2018 Four years ago, Cai co-founded the HR software startup Fountain, which was incubated in YCombinator. — Chavie Lieber, Vox, "Italic sells brandless luxury goods from manufactures for Celine, Prada, and Gucci.," 15 Nov. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'incubate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for incubate
incubate
verb
English Language Learners Definition of incubate
of a bird
: to sit on eggs so that they will be kept warm and will hatch
of an egg
: to be kept warm before hatching
technical
: to keep (something) in the proper conditions for development
See the full definition for incubate in the English Language Learners Dictionary
incubate
verb
in·cu·bate
| \ ˈiŋ-kyə-ˌbāt
\
\
incubated;
incubating
Kids Definition of incubate
1
: to sit upon eggs to hatch them by warmth
2
: to keep under conditions good for hatching or development
incubate
verb
in·cu·bate
| \ ˈiŋ-kyə-ˌbāt, ˈin-
\
\
incubated;
incubating
Medical Definition of incubate
1
: to maintain (as eggs, embryos of animals, or bacteria) under prescribed and usually controlled conditions favorable for hatching or development especially in an incubator
2
: to maintain (a chemically active system) under controlled conditions for the development of a reaction
: to undergo incubation
the cultures incubated for five days
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