as in cultivating
to change (a wild animal or plant) over time to make it more suited to life with or use by humans
Humans domesticated wolves to produce man's best friend.
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Recent Examples of domesticating
That means that winemakers across what is now France must have switched from domesticating wild grapes to propagating them directly—that is, cloning grapevines by taking cuttings of the plants to start new groves.
—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 24 Mar. 2026
And perhaps no one brand better exemplifies the nation's work than Track Trailer and its Tvan, a little 'drop trailer that's been domesticating the Outback for over a quarter-century.
—New Atlas, 17 Mar. 2026
Lonpi Tipi added that domesticating larvae production ultimately would lead to solving problems related to access to protein- and nutrition-rich food.
—Emmet Livingstone, NPR, 20 Sep. 2025
But where chimps might merely poke over the ashes, our lineage at some point took the next step in promoting and even domesticating the flames — perhaps picking a smoldering stick from the edges of one grassland, and lighting the grassland in the next valley over.
—Peter Brannen, Big Think, 28 Aug. 2025
Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 24 Mar. 2026
And perhaps no one brand better exemplifies the nation's work than Track Trailer and its Tvan, a little 'drop trailer that's been domesticating the Outback for over a quarter-century.
—New Atlas, 17 Mar. 2026
Lonpi Tipi added that domesticating larvae production ultimately would lead to solving problems related to access to protein- and nutrition-rich food.
—Emmet Livingstone, NPR, 20 Sep. 2025
But where chimps might merely poke over the ashes, our lineage at some point took the next step in promoting and even domesticating the flames — perhaps picking a smoldering stick from the edges of one grassland, and lighting the grassland in the next valley over.
—Peter Brannen, Big Think, 28 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for domesticating
Verb
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Sports franchises also care a great deal about cultivating and retaining repeat fans, particularly season-ticket holders, who provide a steady source of revenue.—
John Cassidy,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
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One garden tip Nielsen recommends when cultivating purple coneflower is to work compost into the soil at least two weeks before transplanting or planting coneflower seeds.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Some boys have been training for years for The School Duel, while others, like Samuel, have been identified as at risk of committing a shooting themselves.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
24 Apr. 2026
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Distillation is widely used for training AI models, but companies like Anthropic and OpenAI have previously claimed the process has been used to unfairly mimic their models’ capabilities.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
Mercury News,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Today, beef inflation rapidly outpaces regular food inflation due, in part, to severe drought conditions starting in 2022 that raised feed prices and discouraged farmers from breeding cattle.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
21 Apr. 2026
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Sanjar also has figured out that the most efficient time of year to deploy them is summer, when snakes are fattening up for breeding season in late fall.—
Bill Kearney,
Sun Sentinel,
19 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
That means that winemakers across what is now France must have switched from domesticating wild grapes to propagating them directly—that is, cloning grapevines by taking cuttings of the plants to start new groves.—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen,
Scientific American,
24 Mar. 2026
-
Here are two simple methods for propagating ZZ plants.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Sadie Benning and Michael Almereyda have found ghostly, evocative textures using Pixelvision, a Fisher-Price toy camera from the late 1980s.—
Dennis Lim,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
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Redick worked with James’ trainer Mike Mancias to ensure his 41-year-old star’s durability in the final aughts of the game – the four-time NBA MVP eventually playing a team-high 45 minutes while using any opportunity to sink to the floor for a breather.—
Benjamin Royer,
Oc Register,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Over the past two seasons, Murdock combined for 298 tackles, almost 50 more than anyone else in the FBS, while producing 30 tackles for loss and seven sacks.—
Eddie Brown,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 Apr. 2026
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Green cabbage tends to be more common for fermenting, a process by which microorganisms (bacteria, yeast, or fungi) break down sugars and starches in food, producing acids, gases, or alcohol as byproducts.—
Lauren Panoff,
Verywell Health,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The bobcats would sometimes venture into nearby West Hartford by utilizing riparian zones or brush near rivers or streams and staying hidden.—
Sean Krofssik,
Hartford Courant,
19 Apr. 2026
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Guests can dine in the lush garden atmosphere of Ardor, featuring a vegetable-forward California menu utilizing local ingredients.—
Patricia Doherty,
Travel + Leisure,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The incident was captured on camera by a freelance news videographer and appeared to show Evans acting calm and raising his hands in the air when an officer fired a bean bag round that struck him in the stomach, dropping him to the ground.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Apr. 2026
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While much of the world’s economy has shown resilience in the face of the worst disruption to energy supplies in modern times, the knock-on effects of the conflict are starting to push up inflation while raising alarm bells about food supplies and prompting downgrades to economic growth.—
Sean Nevin,
NBC news,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Domesticating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/domesticating. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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