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incubate

[in-kyuh-bayt, ing-] / ˈɪn kjəˌbeɪt, ˈɪŋ- /
VERB
hatch
Synonyms


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:

Among its members are Ulukaya, who has promised to give away most of his fortune, and plans to use part of Chobani’s new city offices to incubate food startups.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

While Nile crocodile eggs naturally incubate in underground nests in the wild, zoos typically hatch them in carefully controlled incubators, closely monitoring the temperature and humidity.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

He said there should be an emphasis on "preserving natural field which provides habitat for insects, bugs, moths and caterpillars that need to incubate underground there."

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

He stayed back to incubate the egg while Wisdom headed back to sea for a time, researchers said.

From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 2024

The shells of her eggs would be thin and eventually smash when she tried to incubate them.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

For more than 70 years, most annual flu vaccines have come from a manufacturing process that incubates the virus in chicken eggs.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

The male incubates the eggs for up to two months and looks after the hatchlings.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2024

Nothing incubates bad behavior better than the unconscious good behavior of people invested in creating a facade of togetherness.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 20, 2022

Leprosy incubates slowly, affecting the skin, upper respiratory tract, eyes and peripheral nerves.

From Nature ● Mar. 3, 2019

The emergence of hiv was subtle: it incubates for years in a human host before it kills the host.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

And their seemingly haphazard jumble is purposeful, reminding us that this is not a temple but a workshop, a place of ongoing activity in which new and experimental art is incubated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

The National Robotarium at Heriot-Watt University is leading breakthroughs in medical and offshore robotics, having incubated 14 companies in its first few years.

From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026

In certain species, eggs incubated in cooler environments hatch into male turtles while warmer environments produce females, potentially skewing an entire generation.

From Science Daily ● May 23, 2024

It was fitting that the dogfight took place at Edwards Air Force Base, a vast desert facility where Chuck Yeager broke the speed of sound and the military has incubated its most secret aerospace advances.

From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2024

The longer she incubated, the more deeply she went into the trance of incubation.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Soil was a metaphor for the growth we were incubating in our lives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

“We are now taking the foundry part of what we had been incubating and creating that as a resource” for the U.S. government, he said.

From MarketWatch ● May 22, 2026

Dorset's much-loved ospreys are incubating another bumper clutch of four eggs and all eyes are on their nest cam, waiting for the first chick to appear.

From BBC ● May 2, 2026

Curiously, DDT did not kill the birds outright, but rather caused their eggshells to collapse under the weight of the incubating adults.

From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2026

The resentments incubating in each man hatched into hatred.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller


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