Library / English Dictionary

CULTIVATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment

Example:

tame the soil

Synonyms:

cultivate; domesticate; naturalise; naturalize; tame

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "cultivate" is one way to...):

accommodate; adapt (make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose)

Domain category:

flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Prepare for crops

Example:

cultivate the land

Synonyms:

crop; cultivate; work

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "cultivate" is one way to...):

fix; gear up; prepare; ready; set; set up (make ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc)

Verb group:

knead; work (make uniform)

Domain category:

agriculture; farming; husbandry (the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cultivate"):

overcrop; overcultivate (to exhaust by excessive cultivation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

cultivation ((agriculture) production of food by preparing the land to grow crops (especially on a large scale))

cultivator (a farm implement used to break up the surface of the soil (for aeration and weed control and conservation of moisture))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Foster the growth of

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Domain category:

agriculture; farming; husbandry (the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cultivate"):

farm; grow; produce; raise (cultivate by growing, often involving improvements by means of agricultural techniques)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They cultivate rye in the field

Derivation:

cultivation ((agriculture) production of food by preparing the land to grow crops (especially on a large scale))

cultivation (the process of fostering the growth of something)

cultivator (someone concerned with the science or art or business of cultivating the soil)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment

Example:

She is well schooled in poetry

Synonyms:

civilise; civilize; cultivate; educate; school; train

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "cultivate" is one way to...):

down; fine-tune; polish; refine (improve or perfect by pruning or polishing)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cultivate"):

sophisticate (make less natural or innocent)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

cultivation (a highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The world has outgrown them, and there is no place now for their strange fashions, their practical jokes, and carefully cultivated eccentricities.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I observed, with pleasure, that he did not go to the forest that day, but spent it in repairing the cottage and cultivating the garden.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

A probiotic containing live, cultivated, freeze-dried lactic acid bacteria with gastrointestinal (GI) protective, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulating and potential antitumor properties.

(Live Freeze-Dried Lactic Acid Bacteria Probiotic, NCI Thesaurus)

It is an evergreen shrub or small tree that is usually trimmed to below two metres (six feet) when cultivated for its leaves.

(Camellia sinensis, NCI Thesaurus)

A tract of land cultivated for the purpose of agricultural production or devoted to the raising and breeding of domestic animals.

(Farm, NCI Thesaurus)

The maiden lady is a Miss Norton, rich, cultivated, and kind.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

"You should cultivate the scientific eye and the detached scientific mind," said he.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Yes," I said; but I could not go on for ever so: I want to enjoy my own faculties as well as to cultivate those of other people.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Holmes had remarkable powers, carefully cultivated, of seeing in the dark.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It caused quite a stir in the neighborhood, and good housewives were proud to have the acquaintances of the great writer's sister, while those who had not made haste to cultivate it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)