How to Use pollinate in a Sentence

pollinate

verb
Definition of pollinatenext
  • The plants are pollinated by bees.
  • The lights planned for the wall could disrupt the bats that pollinate the saguaro.
    — The Economist, 18 Dec. 2019
  • The zoo is working to get pollen to help the plant pollinate.
    — Emily Deletter, The Enquirer, 20 July 2022
  • Carrion flies and beetles are drawn to the stinky smell and pollinate the plant.
    — Kelly Meyerhofer, Journal Sentinel, 16 June 2024
  • The plants have to be pollinated to produce berries, and the bees didn't do their part.
    — Bob Gross, Detroit Free Press, 4 July 2017
  • In all, bees pollinate about $15 billion worth of food crops in the US each year.
    — Chase Purdy, Quartz, 20 June 2019
  • From March to June, the bees will pollinate your yard and lay their offspring in the nesting box.
    — Isabel Garcia, House Beautiful, 17 Mar. 2020
  • Beekeepers across the U.S. rent their colonies out to the state’s nut growers to pollinate the trees.
    — Scott Smith, The Seattle Times, 17 May 2017
  • The wildlife species that move in may pollinate crops or control pests.
    — Claire Kremen, The Conversation, 29 Oct. 2020
  • Then, collect the pollen that shakes out with a spoon to pollinate other flowers of the same type of plant.
    — Jennifer Aldrich, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Sep. 2021
  • In short, the tree is a nest and food source for the insect and the insect (only the females) pollinates the tree’s flowers.
    — Kurt Snibbe, Orange County Register, 19 May 2017
  • The flower pollinates via a thick, sticky liquid that dries on to flies.
    — WIRED, 23 Sep. 2023
  • The Chicago City Hall's roof is home for beehives, which help pollinate the green roof plants.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 8 Mar. 2018
  • Eighty-four percent of crops grown need bees to pollinate them.
    — Nick Thieme, Slate Magazine, 19 July 2017
  • The name Blue Bat Kitchen is a reference to blue agave plants used to make tequila and the bats that pollinate the plants, the owners said.
    — Carol Deptolla, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 22 Feb. 2018
  • Honey bees pollinate about one-third of the crops consumed by people in the U.S.
    — Teri Webster, Dallas News, 26 Apr. 2021
  • On top of that, grass started pollinating at the same time.
    — Maureen Langley, Post-Tribune, 3 July 2018
  • This means that a flower has as many as 500 ovules that need to be pollinated to make a single berry.
    — Ellen Nibali, baltimoresun.com, 27 June 2019
  • Honeybees gather in the hive and then go out into the world to pollinate.
    — Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 15 June 2022
  • The world’s largest hornet is much more of a threat to honeybees that are relied on to pollinate crops.
    — From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 17 June 2021
  • Bees hover in a sea of green, searching for a flower to pollinate.
    — Alice Yin, chicagotribune.com, 11 Aug. 2021
  • This species is not grown for its fruit, but instead used to pollinate other figs.
    — Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 19 Feb. 2024
  • Flowers and the insects that pollinate them are falling out of sync.
    — Dean Fosdick, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 July 2020
  • The bee shows up and there is nothing there for it, but the flower gets pollinated anyway.
    — Elizabeth A. Harris, New York Times, 13 May 2024
  • And losses of species that pollinate plants would threaten up to $577 billion in crops each year.
    — Roni Dengler, Discover Magazine, 31 Dec. 2019
  • The bugs pollinate the flower as its peak bloom occurs around midnight.
    — Joe Mario Pedersen, Orlando Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2022
  • Figs are self pollinating since the fig itself is the flower.
    — Southern Living Test Kitchen, Southern Living, 9 Sep. 2023
  • So, plant one or two to attract them to your garden to pollinate other plants.
    — Kym Pokorny, OregonLive.com, 28 Jan. 2018
  • The plants provided insects with food and new habitat, and insects began pollinating many of the plants — so these two groups of organisms evolved in tandem.
    — Ari Daniel, NPR, 28 June 2024
  • Manuka honey is produced by bees pollinating the manuka bush, which is native to New Zealand.
    — Cristina Mutchler, Verywell Health, 7 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pollinate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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