IMPREGNATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does impregnate mean? 

• IMPREGNATE (verb)
  The verb IMPREGNATE has 4 senses:

1. fill, as with a certain quality

2. infuse or fill completely

3. fertilize and cause to grow

4. make pregnant

  Familiarity information: IMPREGNATE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMPREGNATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they impregnate    ... he / she / it impregnates   
Past simple: impregnated   
Past participle: impregnated   
-ing form: impregnating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fill, as with a certain quality

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

impregnate; infuse; instill; tincture

Context example:

The heavy traffic tinctures the air with carbon monoxide

Hypernyms (to "impregnate" is one way to...):

fill; fill up; make full (make full, also in a metaphorical sense)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Infuse or fill completely

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

impregnate; saturate

Context example:

Impregnate the cloth with alcohol

Hypernyms (to "impregnate" is one way to...):

fill; fill up; make full (make full, also in a metaphorical sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "impregnate"):

medicate (impregnate with a medicinal substance)

alcoholise; alcoholize (treat or infuse with alcohol)

imbue; soak (fill, soak, or imbue totally)

ammonify (treat with ammonia; cause to undergo ammonification)

thoriate (impregnate with thorium oxide to increase thermionic emission)

stuff (treat with grease, fill, and prepare for mounting)

charge (saturate)

drench; imbrue (permeate or impregnate)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence examples:

They impregnate the cloth with water and alcohol
Water and alcohol impregnate the cloth

Derivation:

impregnation (the process of totally saturating something with a substance)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Fertilize and cause to grow

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

the egg was impregnated

Hypernyms (to "impregnate" is one way to...):

fecundate; fertilise; fertilize; inseminate (introduce semen into (a female))

Verb group:

bang up; impregnate; knock up; prang up (make pregnant)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "impregnate"):

inoculate (impregnate with the virus or germ of a disease in order to render immune)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

impregnation (creation by the physical union of male and female gametes; of sperm and ova in an animal or pollen and ovule in a plant)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make pregnant

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

bang up; impregnate; knock up; prang up

Context example:

He impregnated his wife again

Hypernyms (to "impregnate" is one way to...):

fecundate; fertilise; fertilize; inseminate (introduce semen into (a female))

Verb group:

impregnate (fertilize and cause to grow)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

impregnation (creation by the physical union of male and female gametes; of sperm and ova in an animal or pollen and ovule in a plant)

 Context examples 

An IUCD can be a coil, loop, triangle, or T in shape; its material can be impregnated with a pharmaceutical agent.

(Intrauterine device, NICHD)

IUCD can be a coil, loop, triangle, or T in shape; its material can be impregnated with a pharmaceutical agent.

(Intrauterine device, NCI Thesaurus)

A method to determine microbial susceptibility to antibiotics in which a plastic strip impregnated with the antibiotic of interest is placed on an agar plate that has been inoculated with bacteria.

(Epsilometry, NCI Thesaurus)

Microporous hydrospheres of polyvinylalcohol (PVA) impregnated with irinotecan with potential antineoplastic activity.

(Irinotecan-Eluting Beads, NCI Thesaurus)

A textile fiber dressing composed of ionic silver-impregnated sodium carboxymethylcellulose with potential wound-healing and antimicrobial activities.

(Ionic Silver-Impregnated Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose Antimicrobial Dressing, NCI Thesaurus)

The main building blocks of wood are the secondary walls around each wood cell, which are made of a matrix of large polymers called cellulose and hemicellulose, and impregnated with lignin.

(Revealing the nanostructure of wood could help raise height limits for wooden skyscrapers, University of Cambridge)

A solid composed of sucrose, lactose or other polysaccharides formed into small globular pellets impregnated with active and/or inert ingredient(s).

(Globule Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

Implant systems are used when chronic therapy is indicated and may take the form of highly viscous liquids, semi-solid formulations, rod impregnated with drug substances, or a liquid which gels in situ.

(Administration via Implantation, NCI Thesaurus)

A drug-device combination product consisting of small polymeric beads impregnated with the anthracycline antibiotic doxorubicin with potential antineoplastic activity.

(Doxorubicin-Eluting Beads, NCI Thesaurus)

A sustained-release drug delivery embolization system containing small polymeric beads impregnated with the anthracycline antibiotic idarubicin with potential antineoplastic activity.

(Idarubicin-Eluting Beads, NCI Thesaurus)