pollinate

pollinate — verb

1. to bring pollen to a flower or similar plant part, allowing the plant to make se

1.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to bring pollen to a flower or similar plant part, allowing the plant to make seeds or fruit

Example

Bees pollinate the apple trees behind Mr. Chen's farmhouse each spring.

common subject: bees pollinate flowers and trees

Farm workers pollinated the tomato flowers by hand inside the greenhouse.

pattern: pollinate something by hand

Common collocations
  • pollinate flowers
  • pollinate fruit trees
  • pollinate crops
  • pollinate by hand
  • be pollinated by bees
Synonyms
  • fertilize

    broader and less exact; it can name the result, not just the pollen transfer

  • cross-pollinate

    narrower; stresses pollen moving between different plants or flowers

  • hand-pollinate

    same core action, but specifically done by a person rather than insects or wind

Grammar Patterns

pollinate something

pollinate something by hand

be pollinated by insects

Usage Note

Subject is often bees, flies, wind, or people doing the work by hand. In passive sentences, the flower, tree, or crop becomes the subject: 'These plants are pollinated by insects.'

Common Mistakes

Bees pollen the flowers in our yard.
Bees pollinate the flowers in our yard.
'pollen' is a noun; 'pollinate' is the verb.
The pear flowers pollinated by flies in spring.
The pear flowers are pollinated by flies in spring.
passive sentences need a form of 'be'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

For verb sense 1, pollinate is the general word for moving pollen to a flower so seeds or fruit can form. Fertilize is broader and can refer to the successful reproductive result after pollen arrives; in everyday gardening, it also often means adding plant food, so it is not always a safe substitute. Cross-pollinate is narrower and stresses pollen moving between different plants or blossoms. Hand-pollinate keeps the same basic meaning but adds the method: a person uses a brush, finger, or cotton swab instead of insects or wind. Bees pollinate apple trees naturally, growers hand-pollinate greenhouse tomatoes, and two plant varieties may cross-pollinate before fruit develops.

fertilize ↗cross-pollinatehand-pollinate

Common collocations

Nouns

  • flowers
  • crops
  • fruit trees
  • greenhouse plants

Adverbs

Phrases

  • pollinate by hand
  • be pollinated by bees
  • help pollinate crops

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Pollinate was formed in English from pollen and the verb ending -ate. The noun pollen comes from Latin, where it referred to fine flour or dust, which matches the dry powder carried from flower to flower.