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
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
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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Following psychic researchers in search of spirits in a New England house with a tragic past, The Haunting trades leering ghouls and jump scares for atmosphere and suggestion, cultivating a cloud of dread that hangs like a heavy blanket over audiences.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
18 Oct. 2025
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In the view of many faculty members, Baccarelli had undermined the public position Harvard spent months cultivating—as a beacon of academic integrity, unwilling to bend to the administration’s political pressure.—
Katherine J. Wu,
The Atlantic,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Kane was given antibiotics after being bitten on the elbow while farming in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.—
Gabrielle Rockson,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
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Anyone farming more than two acres on land with a non-exempt well would need to report their water use.—
Clara Migoya,
AZCentral.com,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Spring is typically best for planting perennials and shrubs, though some bare-root trees can be planted in winter in milder climates.—
William Jones,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
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There’s been so many examples through the years of filmmakers planting all these seeds or proposing these big universes and imagining these big slates that never end up going anywhere.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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As temperatures begin to cool, your gardening to-do list may include harvesting herbs that won’t survive impending freezing weather.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
22 Oct. 2025
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When harvesting the nuts, pickers should wear gloves to protect their hands from the walnuts' juice, which will stain hands.—
Jenna Prestininzi,
Freep.com,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
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People seeking a reprieve from tending to the lawn will be happy when temperatures drop, usually signaling a break from outdoor tasks.—
Lauren David,
Southern Living,
19 Oct. 2025
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Drew Broussard is tending the horror hearth.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
17 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tilling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tilling. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
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