How to Use pollinate in a Sentence

pollinate

verb
  • The plants are pollinated by bees.
  • Each species of fig has just one or two wasp species that pollinate it.
    — Christian Ziegler, National Geographic, 29 Sep. 2016
  • The zoo is working to get pollen to help the plant pollinate.
    — Emily Deletter, The Enquirer, 20 July 2022
  • The wildlife species that move in may pollinate crops or control pests.
    — Claire Kremen, The Conversation, 29 Oct. 2020
  • The flowers will not pollinate, and the plants just sit there.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 16 July 2025
  • Eighty-four percent of crops grown need bees to pollinate them.
    — Nick Thieme, Slate Magazine, 19 July 2017
  • Use a cotton swab or clean makeup brush to hand-pollinate your plants.
    — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Dec. 2025
  • Carrion flies and beetles are drawn to the stinky smell and pollinate the plant.
    — Kelly Meyerhofer, Journal Sentinel, 16 June 2024
  • The flower pollinates via a thick, sticky liquid that dries on to flies.
    — WIRED, 23 Sep. 2023
  • This species is not grown for its fruit, but instead used to pollinate other figs.
    — Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 19 Feb. 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
  • Place a cloche over the plant to isolate the flowers and then hand-pollinate the plant.
    — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Oct. 2025
  • The benefit is that these trees tend to pollinate only for a few weeks at a time.
    — Josh Kelly, Oklahoman, 5 Mar. 2026
  • So, plant one or two to attract them to your garden to pollinate other plants.
    — Kym Pokorny, OregonLive.com, 28 Jan. 2018
  • Bees hover in a sea of green, searching for a flower to pollinate.
    — Alice Yin, chicagotribune.com, 11 Aug. 2021
  • This guide will show you how to pollinate tomatoes by hand to increase your harvest.
    — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 18 June 2026
  • Why are the flowers so big if the plants are relying on flies (not so big) to pollinate them?
    — Grrlscientist, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
  • Flowers and the insects that pollinate them are falling out of sync.
    — Dean Fosdick, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 July 2020
  • The bugs pollinate the flower as its peak bloom occurs around midnight.
    — Joe Mario Pedersen, Orlando Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2022
  • As long as the female flowers get pollinated, you're set to go.
    — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, 11 Sep. 2020
  • Is there a way to help them along by trying to use a Q-tip to pollinate them myself?
    — Arkansas Online, 8 May 2026
  • The insects have scales on their wings, a unique feature, and pollinate on flowers.
    — Jenna Prestininzi, Freep.com, 19 Feb. 2026
  • Figs are self pollinating since the fig itself is the flower.
    — Southern Living Test Kitchen, Southern Living, 9 Sep. 2023
  • 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
  • Other plants, like some trees, are pollinated when wind sweeps up its pollen and drops it somewhere new.
    — Michaela Mulligan, Miami Herald, 1 May 2024
  • Honeybees gather in the hive and then go out into the world to pollinate.
    — Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 15 June 2022
  • The swelling becomes the fruits once the flower is pollinated.
    — Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 June 2025
  • 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
  • That, and the bees—who, the movie informs us, pollinate one-third of the world’s food supply—are dying.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 28 Aug. 2025
  • 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

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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