as in cultivating
to work by plowing, sowing, and raising crops on
farmers tilling the soil from sunup to sunset
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Recent Examples of tilling
Prep the planting spot by tilling the soil to a depth of 10 to 12 inches.
—
Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Mar. 2026
Data center details Heavy construction machines began surveying and tilling the earth at 501 North Bly Road in November, much to the surprise of Bly Road residents, who say they weren’t warned by the city.
—Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2026
Tractors pass by, tilling the soil.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 Jan. 2026
Prepare the soil through core aeration or tilling 4 to 6 inches deep.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 8 Oct. 2025
The disease presents growing risks not just for agricultural workers accustomed to tilling soil but also for those who move to new suburban developments or spend the weekend on a golf trip in a region where the fungus is present.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 22 Sep. 2025
Farmlands to wetlands George Tibbitts mostly farms rice, but his son Carson was tilling a safflower field on one mid-August morning.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2025
The fragrance of dry grass mingled in the air with the dust kicked up by a tractor tilling in the distance.
—Elena Valeriote, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Mother Ezumi then called out the names of four other Sisters who would remain on the campus with the junior novices as a faculty skeleton crew, with the former attending to school administration and the latter engaged in their customary truck patch tilling.
—Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2025
Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Mar. 2026
Data center details Heavy construction machines began surveying and tilling the earth at 501 North Bly Road in November, much to the surprise of Bly Road residents, who say they weren’t warned by the city.
—Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2026
Tractors pass by, tilling the soil.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 Jan. 2026
Prepare the soil through core aeration or tilling 4 to 6 inches deep.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 8 Oct. 2025
The disease presents growing risks not just for agricultural workers accustomed to tilling soil but also for those who move to new suburban developments or spend the weekend on a golf trip in a region where the fungus is present.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 22 Sep. 2025
Farmlands to wetlands George Tibbitts mostly farms rice, but his son Carson was tilling a safflower field on one mid-August morning.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2025
The fragrance of dry grass mingled in the air with the dust kicked up by a tractor tilling in the distance.
—Elena Valeriote, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Mother Ezumi then called out the names of four other Sisters who would remain on the campus with the junior novices as a faculty skeleton crew, with the former attending to school administration and the latter engaged in their customary truck patch tilling.
—Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tilling
Verb
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Iran had been building that capacity in Iraq since the 1980s, cultivating Shia political networks, exile parties and militia groups during and after the Iran-Iraq War and beyond with the explicit goal of ensuring a post-Saddam Iraq would never again threaten Iranian security.—
Farah N. Jan,
The Conversation,
10 Mar. 2026
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Organizations that fail to provide clearer pathways risk losing the very leaders responsible for cultivating talent across the enterprise.—
Ruth Umoh,
Fortune,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The family started farming peaches in the 1970s, after Johl’s father, Gurbax Johl, immigrated from the Punjab region of India and saved enough to buy land.—
Jake Goodrick,
Sacbee.com,
26 Feb. 2026
-
Fed up with the clip farming all over your FYP?—
Charles Trepany,
USA Today,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In the end, Pearl’s family hosts an end-of-harvest party, sharing the bounty with neighbors who start to think about planting their own gardens.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
8 Mar. 2026
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As the match officials made their way off the pitch, Guardiola was planting a kiss on the cheek of his goalkeeper, James Trafford, and waving, almost dewy-eyed, towards the City fans in the most vertiginous parts of St James’ Park.—
Daniel Taylor,
New York Times,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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What’s more, cities across China such as Beijing, Wuhan, and Shanghai are opening training sites for acclimating robots to various settings (including environments that mimic a retail outlet, an elderly care facility, and a smart home) and harvesting standardized data.—
Eric Schmidt,
Time,
3 Mar. 2026
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Focused on the high-value goal of harvesting Helium-3 for quantum computing and fusion energy, Interlune is developing industrial-scale technology for resource extraction.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In addition to wash cycles and tending to laundry as soon as the buzzer rings, there are a few other tips to decrease the wrinkles in your wash.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
4 Mar. 2026
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As the company’s nearly 2,000 store locations have become shipping hubs for online operations, customers say the shopping experience within stores has suffered with staff fulfilling digital orders rather than tending to store aisles.—
Anne D'Innocenzio,
Fortune,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tilling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tilling. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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