incubate

verb
UK: /ˈɪŋ.kju.beɪt/
US: /ˈɪŋ.kju.beɪt/

  1. To keep eggs warm so they hatch.

    1. We incubate chicken eggs in a special machine at the farm.
    2. The bird needs to incubate her eggs carefully to keep them warm and safe.

  2. To keep something warm and help it develop.

    1. The bacteria incubate well in warm, moist conditions.
    2. The company aims to incubate new technologies within its research lab.

  3. To develop an infection without showing symptoms.

    1. The virus can incubate for several days before symptoms appear.
    2. It takes a while for the disease to incubate after the initial infection.

  4. To think about something carefully and slowly.

    1. I need to incubate my ideas before presenting them to the team.
    2. The writer prefers to incubate ideas for weeks before starting to write.

Synonyms

nurture develop breed hatch ponder consider
incubate adjective

  1. Kept at a suitable temperature so that it develops.

    1. The incubate eggs are placed in a warm environment.
    2. These incubate cells will grow into a complex structure in time.

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "incubate" in English means: To keep eggs warm so they hatch., To keep something warm and help it develop., To develop an infection without showing symptoms., To think about something carefully and slowly..

The phonetic transcription of "incubate" is /ˈɪŋ.kju.beɪt/ in British English and /ˈɪŋ.kju.beɪt/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "incubate": nurture, develop, breed, hatch, ponder, consider.

Example usage of "incubate": "We incubate chicken eggs in a special machine at the farm.". More examples on the page.