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Definitions

populate

[pop-yuh-leyt] / ˈpɒp jəˌleɪt /
VERB
supply with inhabitants
Synonyms
Antonyms
STRONG


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

If so, the Saguaro could offer an important link between the large population of little red dots Webb sees at high redshift and the galaxies that populate the more recent universe.

From Science Daily Aug. 17, 2026

In fact, daemons of all stripes populate the series – and always in pairs.

From Salon Jul. 18, 2026

Straw men populate the book’s later chapters, particularly on economic questions.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 15, 2026

These haters would be his primary constituents and populate his brain trust if he wins.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 10, 2026

Children as young as three, bewildered, desperate, populate these foster homes.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

One simple Google search of the laptop populates a collection of rave reviews from people who have gotten their hands on the device before it officially becomes available on Wednesday.

From Barron's Mar. 10, 2026

Ms. Doucet populates the book with sympathetic characters—the “real cement and steel of the Inter-Con”—conscientious and kind Afghans who keep the hotel going as regimes collapse, rulers change, mores alter.

From The Wall Street Journal Nov. 20, 2025

In a phone interview, Anderson said that when someone buys a puppy from her online, the buyer information populates a travel certificate, and she arranges the health check and transportation.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 12, 2024

“Oppenheimer” sticks almost entirely to its protagonist’s point of view yet also populates its three-hour film with an incredible array of faces, all in exquisite detail.

From Washington Times Jul. 19, 2023

At this season the beauty of every thing around you populates the loneliness of your way.

From Israel Potter by Herman Melville

Reconstructing the transition from a world populated almost entirely by microbes to one filled with plants, animals, and fungi could also help scientists understand whether complex life might develop elsewhere in the universe.

From Science Daily Aug. 17, 2026

Hilton leads in the state’s more sparsely populated and conservative-leaning areas, including the Central Valley and North Coast/Sierra region.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 13, 2026

Much of that spending is concentrated in España vaciada—empty Spain—a term Spaniards use to describe the vast, sparsely populated interior regions where tourists rarely venture.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 12, 2026

Remote communities, where the nearest town might be hundreds of kilometres away, can sometimes be bumped down the priority list for BC firefighting crews if there are blazes threatening more populated areas, she said.

From BBC Aug. 9, 2026

For its first one hundred years, it was thinly populated, rarely numbering more than ten thousand people.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Over the next two years, startups began populating Proto-Town.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 24, 2026

"Yes. There's a Catholic priest there who seems to be populating the whole country with redundant British and American organs."

From BBC Mar. 11, 2026

This is how the scores of docuseries and podcasts populating the genre transform actual horror into digestible content.

From Salon Feb. 13, 2026

Suddenly, most of the major groups of animals alive today -- including vertebrates which would eventually include humans -- evolved and started populating the world's oceans.

From Barron's Jan. 28, 2026

Still others played by wearing their glasses while walking around the real world, showing off their virtual pet tigers or populating the streets with their favorite celebrities.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu




Vocabulary lists containing populate


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