Library / English Dictionary

INCUBATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sit on (eggs)

Example:

The female covers the eggs

Synonyms:

brood; cover; hatch; incubate

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

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

multiply; procreate; reproduce (have offspring or produce more individuals of a given animal or plant)

"Incubate" entails doing...:

sit; sit down (take a seat)

Verb group:

hatch (emerge from the eggs)

breed; cover (copulate with a female, used especially of horses)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

incubation (sitting on eggs so as to hatch them by the warmth of the body)

incubator (apparatus consisting of a box designed to maintain a constant temperature by the use of a thermostat; used for chicks or premature infants)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Grow under conditions that promote development

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

develop (grow, progress, unfold, or evolve through a process of evolution, natural growth, differentiation, or a conducive environment)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

incubation (maintaining something at the most favorable temperature for its development)

incubation ((pathology) the phase in the development of an infection between the time a pathogen enters the body and the time the first symptoms appear)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The allogeneic NK cells obtained from a first or second degree relative of the patient are co-incubated with a lysate from the CTV-1 cell line, a minimally differentiated myeloid line derived from an acute myelogenous leukemia patient.

(CNDO-109-activated Allogeneic Natural Killer Cells, NCI Thesaurus)

The team found that when incubated with osteoarthritic synovial fluid, the knee nerves were more excitable.

(Joint lubricating fluid plays key role in osteoarthritic pain, University of Cambridge)