cultivate
VerbUS[kuhl-tuh-veyt]/ˈkʌltəˌveɪt/3 syllables
Open English WordNet
Verb (4)cultivated, cultivating
- prepare for crops“Work the soil”“cultivate the land”Synonyms: cropworkMore general fix, prepareMore specific overcrop, overcultivateSimilar knead, work
- teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment“Cultivate your musical taste”“Train your tastebuds”“She is well schooled in poetry”Synonyms: educateschooltraincivilizeciviliseMore general polish, refineMore specific sophisticate
- adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment“domesticate oats”“tame the soil”Synonyms: domesticatenaturalizenaturalisetameMore general adapt, accommodate
- promote the growth of“Foster our children's well-being and education”Synonyms: fosterfurtherMore general promote, advanceMore specific grow, raise
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perniciousadjective
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Cul′ti·vate (k?l′t?-v?t), transitive verb [past tense & past participle Cultivated (-v?′t?d); present participle & verbal noun Cultivating (-v?′-t?ng).]
Origin: LL. cultivatus, p. p. of cultivare to cultivate, fr. cultivus cultivated, fr. L. cultus, p. p. of colere to till, cultivate. Cf. Colony.
1. To bestow attention, care, and labor upon, with a view to valuable returns; to till; to fertilize; as, to cultivate soil.
2. To direct special attention to; to devote time and thought to; to foster; to cherish.
Leisure... to cultivate general literature.— William Wordsworth
3. To seek the society of; to court intimacy with.
I ever looked on Lord Keppel as one of the greatest and best men of his age; and I loved and cultivated him accordingly.— Edmund Burke
4. To improve by labor, care, or study; to impart culture to; to civilize; to refine.
To cultivate the wild, licentious savage.— Joseph Addison
The mind of man hath need to be prepared for piety and virtue; it must be cultivated to the end.— John Tilllotson
5. To raise or produce by tillage; to care for while growing; as, to cultivate corn or grass.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54