pollinate

/'pɔlineit/

Thân thiện

A bee pollinates a bright yellow sunflower in a sunny garden.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To fertilize a plant by transferring pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma, enabling the production of seeds and fruit.

Usage

• The verb "pollinate" describes the biological process crucial for plant reproduction.
• It is typically used with a subject (the agent doing the pollinating) and an object (the plant being fertilized).
• Common agents include insects, birds, wind, and humans.

Examples

• Verb:
  • Bees pollinate many of our food crops.
  • The farmer used a small brush to manually pollinate the tomato flowers in the greenhouse.
  • This particular orchid can only be pollinated by a specific type of moth.

Advanced Usage

• "to be pollinated by": Indicates the specific agent that performs the pollination.
  • The flowers are primarily pollinated by hummingbirds.
• "cross-pollinate": To transfer pollen from the flower of one plant to the flower of another plant of the same species. (Note: This is a compound word listed separately as a variant).
  • These apple trees need another variety nearby to cross-pollinate.

Variants and Related Words

• Pollination (n): The act or process of pollinating.
  • Insect pollination is vital for the ecosystem.
• Pollinator (n): An agent that pollinates, such as a bee or bat.
  • The decline in bee populations threatens important pollinators.
• Cross-pollinate (v): As defined in Advanced Usage.
• Self-pollinate (v): To fertilize itself; for a flower to be pollinated by its own pollen.

Synonyms

• Fertilize (in the specific botanical context of transferring pollen).
• Dust (in a less technical sense, e.g., "bees dusting flowers").

Antonyms

• Sterilize (to make incapable of reproduction).

Học thuật

Verb

1. fertilize by transfering pollen

Từ đồng nghĩa

• pollenate
• cross-pollinate