as in to rinse
to pour liquid over or through in order to cleanse
if you get the chemical in your eye, irrigate the eye thoroughly with water
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Recent Examples of irrigate
However, there’s also friction between California, whose supply of Colorado River water is mostly used for irrigating crops in the Imperial Valley, and Nevada and Arizona, whose populations have been increasing dramatically (think Las Vegas) and need water for that expansion.
—
Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2025
Salmonella can be spread via contaminated water errantly used to irrigate crops, according to the CDC.
—Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY, 4 Feb. 2025
The river makes modern life possible across a vast swath of the West, providing water for approximately 40 million people and irrigating 5.5 million acres of farm land.
—Elise Schmelzer, The Denver Post, 23 Jan. 2025
The latter are often irrigated during haying and grazed during much of the fire season, which reduces the vegetation fuels on the landscape.
—Claire Rush, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for irrigate
Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2025
Salmonella can be spread via contaminated water errantly used to irrigate crops, according to the CDC.
—Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY, 4 Feb. 2025
The river makes modern life possible across a vast swath of the West, providing water for approximately 40 million people and irrigating 5.5 million acres of farm land.
—Elise Schmelzer, The Denver Post, 23 Jan. 2025
The latter are often irrigated during haying and grazed during much of the fire season, which reduces the vegetation fuels on the landscape.
—Claire Rush, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for irrigate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irrigate
Verb
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After rinsing, use a cleaver or a very sharp knife to cut the beef tendon into 3- to 4-inch pieces.—
Vicky Hallett,
NPR,
1 Apr. 2025
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For roughly the next six hours, Hall engages in intense workouts and, as some critics online have pointed out, unusual behavior, such as rinsing his teeth and dunking his head with bottled Saratoga water and applying a leftover banana peel to his skin.—
Ariana Yaptangco,
Glamour,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
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An employee was seen sneezing directly into their hand and returning to work without washing their hands.—
Camila Pedrosa,
Sacbee.com,
28 Mar. 2025
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Because what’s really getting washed is the film as the paint rests safely beneath it.—
Karl Brauer,
Forbes.com,
26 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Even the two newest locks, built in 2016, only reuse about 60% of water on each transit – 40% is flushed to avoid saltwater from the oceans intruding into the watershed.—
Karina Garcia,
The Conversation,
31 Mar. 2025
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Unfortunately for Cincinnati, eight innings of quality baseball were flushed down the toilet as Gibaut surrendered the lead in a nightmare ninth inning.—
Ron Estes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Irrigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irrigate. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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