Cultivate
['kʌltɪveɪt] or ['kʌltɪvet]
Definition
(verb.) prepare for crops; 'Work the soil'; 'cultivate the land'.
(verb.) foster the growth of.
Inputed by Bennett--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To bestow attention, care, and labor upon, with a view to valuable returns; to till; to fertilize; as, to cultivate soil.
(v. t.) To direct special attention to; to devote time and thought to; to foster; to cherish.
(v. t.) To seek the society of; to court intimacy with.
(v. t.) To improve by labor, care, or study; to impart culture to; to civilize; to refine.
(v. t.) To raise or produce by tillage; to care for while growing; as, to cultivate corn or grass.
Checked by Danny
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Till, raise crops from.[2]. Study, investigate, search into.[3]. Improve, refine, elevate, civilize, meliorate, make better.[4]. Foster, cherish, promote.
Editor: Philip
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Promote, foster, study, improve, fertilize, till, advance, refine, improve,civilize, nourish, cherish
ANT:Neglect, desert, abandon, stifle, prevent, discourage, abolish, blight, blast,paralyze, eradicate, extirpate, uproot
Editor: Priscilla
Definition
v.i. to till or produce by tillage: to prepare for crops: to devote attention to: to civilise or refine.—adjs. Cul′tivable Cultivat′able capable of being cultivated.—ns. Cultivā′tion the art or practice of cultivating: civilisation: refinement; Cul′tivator.—Cultivate a person's friendship to endeavour to get his good-will.
Typed by Aileen
Examples
- The English and the Germans (he indignantly declared) were always reviling the Italians for their inability to cultivate the higher kinds of music. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Let no one suppose that the unwillingness to cultivate what Mr. Wells calls the mental hinterland is a vice peculiar to the business man. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- It would pay him to get apiece of his head taken off, and cultivate a wen like a carpet sack. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Shortly after the discovery of yeast in the nineteenth century, man commenced his attempt to cultivate the tiny organisms. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- I said briefly to the doctor: do _you_ cultivate happiness? Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Dear Madam, said Adrian, let me entreat you to see him, to cultivate his friendship. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- I mean to begin from this day to cultivate, to polish, and we shall see. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Many cultivated plants display the utmost vigour, and yet rarely or never seed! Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Barren timber for building is of great value in a populous and well-cultivated country, and the land which produces it affords a considerable rent. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- When the crown lands had become private property, they would, in the course of a few years, become well improved and well cultivated. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The ignorant distrust of opium (in England) is by no means confined to the lower and less cultivated classes. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- I am fast coming to the end of my offences against your cultivated modern taste. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- They cultivated n umerous vegetables, grains, fruits, and flowers. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Neolithic men cultivated and ate wheat, barley, and millet, but they knew nothing of oats or rye. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Jethro Tull in England shortly after invented and introduced a combined system of drilling, ploughing and cultivating. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The proprietor furnished them with the seed, cattle, and instruments of husbandry, the whole stock, in short, necessary for cultivating the farm. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- It is the subject in connection with which my son first had, I believe, the pleasure of cultivating your acquaintance. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Education is thus a fostering, a nurturing, a cultivating, process. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Under such conditions, men take revenge, as it were, upon the alien and hostile environment by cultivating contempt for it, by giving it a bad name. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Even without the latter support the cultivating civilization of China has enormous powers of permeation and extension. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The mass of the population was living then very much as it lives to-day; dressing, cultivating, and building its houses in much the same fashion. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- A country weaver, who cultivates a small farm, must loose a good deal of time in passing from his loom to the field, and from the field to his loom. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- You cultivate society and society cultivates you, but Mr Riah's not society. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- America best cultivates what Germany brought forth. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- Nor yet by reason of a knowledge which cultivates the earth; that would give the city the name of agricultural? Plato. The Republic.
Edited by Alta