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  1. incubate love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. v. To sit on (eggs) to provide heat, so as to promote embryonic development and the hatching of young; brood.
  2. v. To maintain (eggs, organisms, or living tissue) at optimal environmental conditions for growth and development.
  3. v. To maintain (a chemical or biochemical system) under specific conditions in order to promote a particular reaction.
  4. v. To form or consider slowly and protectively, as if hatching: incubated the idea for a while, then announced it.
  5. v. To brood eggs.
  6. v. To develop and hatch.
  7. v. To undergo incubation.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. To sit upon for the purpose of hatching; hatch out, or produce by hatching: often used figuratively: as, to incubate eggs; to incubate a book or a project.
  2. To sit, as on eggs, for the purpose of hatching; brood: as, a bird that incubates for two weeks.
  3. In pathology, to go through the stage or process of incubation. See incubation, 2.
  4. In bacteriology, to place (a culture) in a thermostat or a similar apparatus for the purpose of obtaining the maximum growth of bacteria by keeping them at a constant optimum temperature.

Wiktionary

  1. v. transitive To brood, raise, or maintain eggs, organisms, or living tissue through the provision of ideal environmental conditions.
  2. v. transitive To incubate metaphorically; to ponder an idea slowly and deliberately as if in preparation for hatching it.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. v. To sit, as on eggs for hatching; to brood; to brood upon, or keep warm, as eggs, for the purpose of hatching.
  2. v. To maintain (a living organism, such as microorganisms or a premature baby) under appropriate conditions, such as of temperature, humidity, or atmospheric composition, for growth.
  3. v. To develop gradually in some interior environment, until fully formed.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. sit on (eggs)
  2. v. grow under conditions that promote development

Etymologies

  1. From Latin incubatus, past participle of incubare ("to hatch"), from Latin in- ("on") and cubare ("to lie"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Latin incubāre, incubāt-, to lie down on : in-, on; see in-2 + cubāre, to lie down. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “He told USA Today, "I've written and created everything I've done, and it takes me a year to reflect on what I've done, a year to let the idea incubate, and a year to create a new character.”

    Newsweek: Spring Movie Guide

  • “I suppose one could hardly say that they were being incubated, for, according to the dictionaries, to incubate is to sit upon, and certainly there was no one sitting on them.”

    Forest Neighbors Life Stories of Wild Animals

  • “Wertheimer's idea is to tap the entrepreneurial trading instinct of the Arab people (the Middle East was traditionally one of the great trading crossroads of the world) and "incubate" more than 100 small export businesses in products like plastics, textiles and software.”

    Newsweek: Between The Lines Online: Investing In Peace

  • “Both Paige and Nate are regular guests on Oprah, and according to the report, Winfrey plans to "incubate" them in the same manner as she did with Dr. Phil.”

    Archive 2005-01-01

  • “After arriving at the ceremony encased in a giant egg all the better to "incubate" before her live performance, the superstar hit the stage to sing "Born This Way" for the first time in front of an audience.”

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion

  • “Tearfund will 'incubate' Restored over the next three years, and host the new alliance as it builds up its own capacity and identity.”

    Christian Today

  • “With five new camps it helped "incubate" set to open this summer and backing from powerhouse philanthropists like Mem Bernstein and the Jim Joseph Foundation, the 12-year-old Foundation for Jewish Camp - which represents about 150 nonprofit Jewish overnight camps - is focusing on not simply staying stable but on ambitious growth.”

    The Jewish Week (BETA)

  • “It's also not their primary job to "incubate" minority businesses.”

    HolyCoast.com

  • “If ness development organization without coordina - not, then the firm should explore how it might "incubate" tion by the team actually delivering the products and the business separately. services; 10.”

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows

  • “The city should work to build partnerships with Binghamton University, he said, noting the state and federal governments have given a lot of money to Binghamton University for research, and officials are now working to use this research to "incubate" jobs in the community.”

    theithacajournal.com -

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synonyms (4)

Words with the same meaning

  1. brood
  1. sit
  1. covert
  1. hatch

hypernyms (4)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. reproduce
  1. multiply
  1. procreate
  1. develop

reverse dictionary (12)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. incubate
  2. covey
  1. brood
  2. cover
  1. megapode
  2. scrub fowl
  1. family apogonidae
  2. moundbird
  1. Mound Builder
  2. apogonidae
  1. broody
  2. sit

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‘incubate’ has been looked up 1551 times, loved by 3 people, added to 12 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 12.