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
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
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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Moon Juice enters Target after cultivating a loyal customer base, Bacon said.—
Ryma Chikhoune,
Footwear News,
16 Feb. 2026
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In the ensuing months Epstein becomes a liaison between the two, with Epstein proffering offerings of assistance to both parties while cultivating his friendship with Barrack.—
Daniel Ruetenik,
CBS News,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Some clinical trials indicate that BCAAs may help alleviate soreness during this process, which could be especially helpful for those who are new to exercise or regularly training at high intensity, Hernandez said.—
Allison Forsyth,
Health,
20 Feb. 2026
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The process consisted of training a type of machine learning algorithm called a neural network on a corpus of videos so that the network would learn to take in a frame of a new video and output a plausible next frame.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In the long term, this failure to address deep social problems contributes to the erosion of people’s trust in governments and institutions, breeding nihilism and an attraction to demagogues who claim to have easy answers.—
Rob Wolfe,
The Atlantic,
19 Feb. 2026
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That group of friends is just breeding toxicity with each other.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Guojun’s abiding preoccupation, Song told me, was propagating his seed.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
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The best part about propagating a leggy succulent is that nearly every part of the plant can be used to grow new plants.—
Cori Sears,
The Spruce,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Such batteries are also much easier and safer to dispose of, and can potentially be made using cheaper and less rare materials.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Feb. 2026
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This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor.—
USA Today staff,
USA Today,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The near side has a thin crust, low topography and KREEP, a geochemical component rich in heat-producing radioactive elements.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
21 Feb. 2026
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These areas mimic a natural desert oasis environment, where trees are clumped together and left to grow naturally, producing fruit and nourishing the local wildlife.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Still, director Mario Landi, working with the limited resources of television production at the time, provides intriguing little visual touches, utilizing windows as a central motif to explore the book’s running theme of outsiders always looking in.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2026
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De Kluyver dreamt up three off-kilter looks utilizing Byredo’s assortment of colorful cosmetics.—
Kiana Murden,
Vogue,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But what was really baffling was Cronin’s claim that the questioner was raising his voice.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Feb. 2026
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That reality means balancing work, wellness and raising her young son, which has become the foundation for her latest collaboration with Fabletics.—
Casey DelBasso,
ABC News,
19 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Domesticating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/domesticating. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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