populate
verb
pop·u·late
ˈpä-pyə-ˌlāt 
populated; populating
2
a
: to furnish or provide with inhabitants : people
b
: to provide with members
Examples of populate in a Sentence
Immigrants began to populate the area in the late 19th century.
Strange creatures populate the ocean depths.
Recent Examples on the Web
If your web browser automatically populates your username and password for you, make sure this information is free of typos.
—
Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 22 June 2025
As ever, the surrounding economic ecosystem for kids trying to make NIL deals will be populated by men like Blazer once was, feasting like hyenas and alligators on the migration of a vast herd of wildebeests.
—Guy Lawson, Rolling Stone, 22 June 2025
Using a real-life incarceration facility near Geelong in Victoria that had just opened (but wasn’t populated yet), Williams has a setting that’s sunny and modern, not inherently depressing if not exactly pleasant, either.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 20 June 2025
The right-wing media complex has a disproportionate presence and is populated by extreme personalities who have no problem embracing nonsense AI imagery and flagrantly untrue reporting that fits their agenda.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for populate
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 22 June 2025
As ever, the surrounding economic ecosystem for kids trying to make NIL deals will be populated by men like Blazer once was, feasting like hyenas and alligators on the migration of a vast herd of wildebeests.
—Guy Lawson, Rolling Stone, 22 June 2025
Using a real-life incarceration facility near Geelong in Victoria that had just opened (but wasn’t populated yet), Williams has a setting that’s sunny and modern, not inherently depressing if not exactly pleasant, either.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 20 June 2025
The right-wing media complex has a disproportionate presence and is populated by extreme personalities who have no problem embracing nonsense AI imagery and flagrantly untrue reporting that fits their agenda.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for populate
Cite this Entry
“Populate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/populate. Accessed 26 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
populate
verb
pop·u·late
ˈpäp-yə-ˌlāt
populated; populating
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