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fertilize - 4 dictionary results
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fer⋅ti⋅lize

  [fur-tl-ahyz]
Use fertilize in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -lized, -liz⋅ing.
1. Biology.
a. to render (the female gamete) capable of development by uniting it with the male gamete.
b. to fecundate or impregnate (an animal or plant).
2. to make fertile; enrich: to fertilize farmland.
3. to make productive.
Also, especially British, fer⋅ti⋅lise.

Origin:
1640–50; fertile + -ize

Related forms:
fer⋅ti⋅liz⋅a⋅ble, adjective
fer⋅ti⋅liz⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To fertilize
fer·til·ize   (fûr'tl-īz')   
v.   fer·til·ized, fer·til·iz·ing, fer·til·iz·es

v.   tr.
  1. To cause the fertilization of (an ovum, for example).
  2. To make (soil, for example) fertile: Compost fertilizes the soil.
  3. To spread fertilizer on: used a mechanical spreader to fertilize the lawn.
v.   intr.
To spread fertilizer.
fer'til·iz'a·ble adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Fertilize

Fer"ti*lize\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fertilized; p. pr. & vb. n. Fertilizing.] [Cf. F. fertiliser.]

1. To make fertile or enrich; to supply with nourishment for plants; to make fruitful or productive; as, to fertilize land, soil, ground, and meadows.

And fertilize the field that each pretends to gain. --Byron.

2. To fecundate; as, to fertilize flower. --A. R. Wallace.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : fertilize
Spanish: fertilizar,
German: fruchtbar machen, befruchten,
Japanese: 肥料をほどこす
More Translations »
fertilization   (fûr'tl-ĭ-zā'shən)  Pronunciation Key 
  1. The process by which two gametes (reproductive cells having a single, haploid set of chromosomes) fuse to become a zygote, which develops into a new organism. The resultant zygote is diploid (it has two sets of chromosomes). In cross-fertilization, the two gametes come from two different individual organisms. In self-fertilization, the gametes come from the same individual. Fertilization includes the union of the cytoplasm of the gametes (called plasmogamy) followed by the union of the nuclei of the two gametes (called karyogamy). Among many animals, such as mammals, fertilization occurs inside the body of the female. Among fish, eggs are fertilized in the water. Among plants, fertilization of eggs occurs within the reproductive structures of the parent plant, such as the ovules of gymnosperms and angiosperms. See Note at pollination.
  2. The process of making soil more productive of plant growth, as by the addition of organic material or fertilizer.

fertilize verb
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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