incubated

verb

past tense of incubate
1
as in spawned
to cover and warm eggs as the young inside develop the hen incubated her eggs for two weeks

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in cultivated
to help the growth or development of hopefully, these youthful visits to the museum will incubate an enduring love of art

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of incubated Hint ended up coming to life after being incubated at Montauk Capital; it’s raised $10 million, and investors include Slow Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, and Brian Kelly (aka the Points Guy—a Stewart bestie who joined yesterday). — Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 23 July 2026 Now the company has incubated a product called Ampersand, built around what Coelho calls the central accountability gap in agentic payments. — Aaron Stanley, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026 According to the ancient Greeks, a mighty serpent called Ophion incubated an enormous egg that hatched into the universe and all its inhabitants. — Literary Hub, 10 July 2026 The collaboration comes after Ephea was incubated by Kering’s Material Innovation Lab in Milan, which identifies, evolves, and helps to operationalize hundreds of alternative materials, with the hope of embedding them into brand collections. — Bella Webb, Vogue, 11 June 2026 The scientists demonstrated that tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) spontaneously formed when mixtures of purified coat protein and its genomic RNA were incubated together. — Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 June 2026 These arachnids hatch from eggs incubated in moist woodchuck feces, then affix themselves to the nearest dupe naïve enough to leave the city. — Jay Ruttenberg, New Yorker, 8 June 2026 The turtles crawl out of the ocean, dig holes in the sand, then deposit dozens of eggs to be incubated by the summer sun, experts say. — Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 1 June 2026 La Complice was incubated at Harvard’s Innovation Labs and is participating in Harvard’s selective Rock Accelerator program. — Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 26 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incubated
  1. spawned
  2. cultivated
  3. hatched
  4. promoted
  5. sat
  6. encouraged
  7. laid
  8. nurtured
Verb
  • Vancouver’s model spawned dozens of injection sites across Canada.
    — Michael Powell, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026
  • Wildfires in a Utah national forest spawned massive spinning towers of smoke, prompting evacuations in a nearby town.
    — Gina Park, CNN Money, 30 July 2026
Definition of spawned
Verb
  • The endorsements demonstrate the credibility Nixon has cultivated with fellow Democrats in Florida, even as donors flock toward Vindman.
    — Shauna Muckle, Miami Herald, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Named for nebbia, the Italian word for the heavy layer of fog that settles over the vineyards around harvest time in early autumn, Nebbiolo has been cultivated in Piedmont for more than 750 years.
    — Mike DeSimone, Robb Report, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of cultivated
Verb
  • Charlie hatched at the Maryland Zoo in 1986 and lived at the Georgia Aquarium for decades.
    — Dan Raby, CBS News, 31 July 2026
  • These plans have been hatched prior to the final one taking place in less than a month’s time and are understood to have been discussed at a recent roundtable with figures from the local sector.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 28 July 2026
Definition of hatched
Verb
  • Millions of Americans are already injecting unapproved chemicals like peptides promoted by a hodgepodge of wellness influencers and celebrity podcasters.
    — Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • This Spidey adventure was promoted as a reset in the web-slinging series.
    — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of promoted
Verb
  • This fine establishment has sat at the same address in the Williamsburg Bridge's shadow since 1887, and the interiors carry about as many frills as your average public house—dark wood, plaster walls, and so on.
    — Charlie Hobbs, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 Dec. 2025
  • The birthday boy and his big sister Sterling Skye, 3, each sat between one of their parents’ laps.
    — Angel Saunders, People.com, 24 Dec. 2024
Definition of sat
Verb
  • More than 48 hours later, the team hasn’t released any MRI results and Bader has declined to provide public comments, despite being encouraged by the club to talk to reporters or make a statement.
    — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 31 July 2026
  • Cruz and Bardem have always encouraged their children’s creative pursuits.
    — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2026
Definition of encouraged
Verb
  • The collision laid bare the danger at the most volatile front of Europe’s wildfire emergency.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2026
  • More’s The Real Thing—taut and metallic, expressive and immediate, unmistakably of its time and place—Pork Soda laid its ground by reducing elements until the negative space formed an architecture of its own.
    — Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of laid
Verb
  • The dynamic of these three together — and of Holland, Zendaya and Batalon in the roles — has been lovingly nurtured over four films and pays off here with genuinely affecting moments that will have some fans getting misty-eyed.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 28 July 2026
  • But the majority of the album is focused on the machinery that brings stars to life, with nods to the Velvet Underground, a band that was famously nurtured by a man who knew a little something about that.
    — Caryn Ganz, Rolling Stone, 23 July 2026
Definition of nurtured

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incubated
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Cite this Entry

“Incubated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incubated. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on incubated

Nglish: Translation of incubated for Spanish Speakers

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