pullulate

verb

ˈpəl-yə-ˌlāt How to pronounce pullulate (audio)
Definition of pullulatenext
as in to burst
to be copiously supplied a tough city neighborhood that has a reputation for pullulating with prostitutes and petty criminals

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pullulate
  1. burst
  2. buzz
  3. bulge
Verb
  • The flames that burst from each copper pipe aren’t responsible for generating the organ’s tones.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The Saturday morning calm at Catalina Island Health’s two-bed emergency room was broken just before noon, when two tourists with arm injuries burst in within minutes of one another.
    — Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of burst
Verb
  • Quinnen Williams & Kenny Clark Much was made about Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark both getting a full offseason with the team this year, and if their start to camp is any indication, that buzz was for good reason.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Obsession claimed Best Horror Movie and Best Actress in a Horror Movie for Inde Navarrette, who has sparked awards buzz ever since the record-breaking film first swept the box office.
    — Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of buzz
Verb
  • As the compressed sides bulge outward under load, the tower’s structural strength drops sharply, frequently triggering sudden buckling or catastrophic collapse.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 31 July 2026
  • Okegbe recommends immediately discarding any can that’s bulging, leaking, heavily rusted, or dented.
    — Jamie Cuccinelli, Martha Stewart, 26 July 2026
Definition of bulge
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.

Browse Nearby Words

pull together
pullulate
pullulated
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Pullulate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pullulate. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All