Definition

1. Verb:
   • To supply land or crops with water by using channels, ditches, or other artificial means to promote growth.
   • To apply a steady flow of a liquid, typically water or a medical solution, to a specific area for cleansing, cooling, or disinfecting purposes.

Usage and Examples

• Verb (Agricultural Context):
  • Farmers irrigate their fields during the dry season to ensure the crops receive enough water.
  • Modern systems use drip lines to efficiently irrigate the orchard.
• Verb (Medical/Sanitary Context):
  • The nurse will gently irrigate the wound with a saline solution to prevent infection.
  • It is important to irrigate the eye with clean water if a chemical gets into it.

Advanced Usage

• "to irrigate with": To use a specific liquid for the purpose of irrigation.
  • The surgeon irrigated the surgical site with an antiseptic fluid.
• Passive Voice: Often used to describe land or areas that receive water.
  • The valley is irrigated by water from the mountain reservoir.

Variants and Related Words

• Irrigation (n): The act or process of supplying water to land.
  • The new dam project will improve irrigation for the entire region.
• Irrigable (adj): (Of land) suitable for being supplied with water by artificial means.
  • The survey identified thousands of acres of irrigable land.

Synonyms

• Water: To supply with water (common for plants/land).
• Flush: To cleanse with a sudden flow of liquid (common in medical/mechanical contexts).
• Rinse: To wash with clean water (common for wounds or body parts).

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

(This word does not commonly form phrasal verbs. Its meaning is typically conveyed directly or with prepositions like "with".)

Related Idioms

(There are no common idioms directly built around the verb "irrigate".)

Verb

1. supply with a constant flow or sprinkling of some liquid, for the purpose of cooling, cleansing, or disinfecting
   • irrigate the wound
2. supply with water, as with channels or ditches or streams
   • Water the fields