incubate

verb in·cu·bate \ ˈiŋ-kyə-ˌbāt , ˈin- \

|Updated on: 16 Jun 2018

Definition of incubate

incubated; incubating

1 a : 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

intransitive verb

1 : to sit on eggs

2 : to undergo incubation : develop

—

incubative

play \ˈiŋ-kyə-ˌbā-tiv, ˈin-\ adjective

—

incubatory

play \ˈiŋ-kyə-bə-ˌtȯr-ē, -ˌbā-tə-rē, ˈin-\ adjective

See incubate defined for English-language learners

See incubate defined for kids

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.

Recent Examples of incubate from the Web

Before closing in April 2013, the Congress would help incubate several summer festivals, not just Riot Fest.

— leor galil, Chicago Reader, "Does Chicago have too many music festivals?," 30 May 2018
Green sea turtles incubate a little later: in July, August and September.

— tyler treadway, USA TODAY, "Almost all sea turtles born in Florida are female, and this researcher thinks she knows why," 13 Mar. 2018
Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Code Eight, a stealthy personal-shopping startup incubated inside of Walmart, has rebranded itself as Jetblack, Recode has learned.

— jason del rey, Recode, "Walmart has quietly launched Jetblack, a ‘members-only’ personal shopping service for affluent city moms," 18 May 2018
If the Trump years were following the model of the Nixon years for incubating protest—and thereby protest art—we’d expect a cohort of diverse and pissed-off fight-starters looking beyond the self to the collective.

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Can Protest Art Get Its Mojo Back?," 7 May 2018
Hundreds of central banks and corporations are incubating a game-changing technology called blockchain—and investors are betting billions on it.

— john pavlus, Scientific American, "A Guide to the World Bitcoin Created," 8 Jan. 2018
Two miles below the waves off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, a team of geochemists in a subsea vehicle accidentally discovered hundreds of strange, beautiful purple octopus incubating their eggs.

— laura yan, Popular Mechanics, "Scientists Discovered These Beautiful, Doomed, Purple Octopuses," 22 Apr. 2018
But, as Mindy Weisberger at LiveScience reports, they were stunned by the images that came back from two miles below the waves: hundreds of beautiful purple octopus mamas huddled around the vents, incubating their eggs.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Colony of Beautiful, Doomed Purple Octopuses Found Off Costa Rica," 21 Apr. 2018
The two are interlocked, as both have been incubating in what feels a like a growing crusade with many of the hallmarks of the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

— elizabeth paton, New York Times, "‘I Feel Like I Am Part of a Great Moment’," 19 Mar. 2018

These 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.

Origin and Etymology of incubate

Latin incubatus, past participle of incubare, from in- + cubare to lie

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1641

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

See Words from the same year

incubate Synonyms

INCUBATE Defined for English Language Learners

incubate

verb

Definition of incubate for English Language Learners

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
: to keep (something) in the proper conditions for development

INCUBATE Defined for Kids

incubate

verb in·cu·bate \ ˈiŋ-kyə-ˌbāt \

Definition of incubate for Students

incubated; incubating

1 : to sit upon eggs to hatch them by warmth

2 : to keep under conditions good for hatching or development

Medical Dictionary

incubate

verb in·cu·bate \ ˈiŋ-kyə-ˌbāt, ˈin- \

medical Definition of incubate

incubated; incubating

transitive verb

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

intransitive verb

: to undergo incubation