irrigate
verb
ir·ri·gate
ˈir-ə-ˌgāt 
irrigated; irrigating
1
2
: to refresh as if by watering
: to practice irrigation
A tensiometer (soil moisture probe), available at any garden center, helps take the guesswork out of irrigating.—
The Benicia (California) Herald
The Benicia (California) Herald
Examples of irrigate in a Sentence
The surgeon irrigated the wound.
if you get the chemical in your eye, irrigate the eye thoroughly with water
Recent Examples on the Web
To conserve water, the World Equestrian Center does not irrigate turf areas beyond the Saint Augustine turf grass.
—Terry Ward, Travel + Leisure, 27 May 2024
To qualify, the plot of land had to have been irrigated with groundwater between 1975 and 1980.
—Corina Vanek, The Arizona Republic, 28 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for irrigate 
Terry Ward, Travel + Leisure, 27 May 2024
To qualify, the plot of land had to have been irrigated with groundwater between 1975 and 1980.
—Corina Vanek, The Arizona Republic, 28 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for irrigate
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'irrigate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near irrigate
Cite this Entry
“Irrigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irrigate. Accessed 1 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
irrigate
verb
ir·ri·gate
ˈir-ə-ˌgāt
irrigated; irrigating
1
: to supply with water by artificial means
irrigate a field
irrigate crops
2
: to flush with a liquid
irrigate a wound
Medical Definition
irrigate
transitive verb
ir·ri·gate
ˈir-ə-ˌgāt
irrigated; irrigating
: to flush (a body part) with a stream of liquid
irrigate the wound with saline to remove debris
the eye was irrigated for 10 minutes following chemical exposure
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share