Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To transfer pollen from an anther of an angiosperm to (a stigma, flower, or plant).
  • intransitive verb To transfer pollen from a microsporangium of a gymnosperm to (an ovule, cone, or plant).

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In botany, to convey pollen to the stigma of; pollenize. See pollination.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb (Bot.) To apply pollen to (a stigma).
  • adjective (Zoöl.) Pollinose.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To apply pollen to (a stigma).
  • adjective zoology Pollinose.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb fertilize by transfering pollen

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin pollen, pollin-, pollen (from Latin, fine flour) + –ate.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pollinate.

Examples

  • To attract male wasps to pollinate them, the orchids not only look like an insect Marilyn Monroe, they exude a fragrance even more bewitching than the real sexual attractant of the females they're mimicking.

    Kenny Ausubel: The Sting: Social Biomimicry and The Role of Fraud in Nature Kenny Ausubel 2011

  • To attract male wasps to pollinate them, the orchids not only look like an insect Marilyn Monroe, they exude a fragrance even more bewitching than the real sexual attractant of the females they're mimicking.

    Kenny Ausubel: The Sting: Social Biomimicry and The Role of Fraud in Nature Kenny Ausubel 2011

  • From the one came the many, begot or pollinate by inspiration or its lack: Alamo RentaCar begat AlamoDome begat Alamo Frozen Burrito which in turn was father to Alamo Bowlarama.

    Alamo Rag David Ackley 2011

  • However, it needs the support, both of the local environment and of the government institutions, to take root and pollinate other would-be innovators.

    Muhammad H. Zaman: Engineering a Healthy Tomorrow for the Poorest Billion Muhammad H. Zaman 2012

  • As a rule, beans pollinate themselves so you don't have to worry about unwanted hybrids, courtesy of an earnest bee.

    Groundwork: Beans, cute and dried Adrian Higgins 2010

  • This would seem a trifling amount considering honey bees pollinate the majority of our fruits and vegetables and have been experiencing serious population decline.

    Edward Flattau: Frivolous Pork Edward Flattau 2012

  • It is specifically because I’m a carrier of raconteur’s disease, in its most virulent form, that I have come to realize that one can never really cross-pollinate the act of live storytelling with its literary reflection.

    An Interview with Thomas Steinbeck 2010

  • Since we rely on bees to pollinate about one-third of our food base, the loss would reduce availability of those foods and increase prices.

    New research on honeybee illness Post 2011

  • I wish there were more "summit" events like this that cross-pollinate the sf/fantasy art and literary world with the world-at-large.

    MIND MELD: What Can Worldcon and Comic-Con Learn From Each Other? 2009

  • To pollinate most plum trees, bees are released into a covering wood and plastic structure, along with pollen-bearing bouquets from other plum or apricot trees.

    When Apricot Met Plum... Melanie Grayce West 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.