How to Use populate in a Sentence

populate

verb
  • Strange creatures populate the ocean depths.
  • Immigrants began to populate the area in the late 19th century.
  • Stars from around the world will populate the front rows or strut down the catwalk.
    — Brendan Le, Peoplemag, 24 Sep. 2024
  • As far as a lot of people, this area is not populated at all.
    — Scott Springer, Cincinnati.com, 8 Apr. 2020
  • The coach uses four in the middle, and the rest populate the wings.
    — Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2025
  • Those few survivors will re-populate the leaves very quickly.
    — oregonlive, 20 June 2021
  • Tourists and locals alike populate the bars and dining rooms.
    — Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 17 Jan. 2026
  • At the rear is a sitting area the theater hopes to populate with live music next spring.
    — Doug George, chicagotribune.com, 14 Dec. 2020
  • Many of the big fish and mammals that used to populate the ocean simply aren’t there anymore.
    — Matt Reynolds, Wired, 23 Nov. 2021
  • That voice sets him apart from the other singers that populate country radio.
    — Emily Yahr, Washington Post, 22 Sep. 2022
  • Hedges and palm trees populate a backyard with a swimming pool, spa, patio and fire pit.
    — Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 5 May 2021
  • But there’s much more to consider than just the movies that populate the marquees.
    — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 10 Apr. 2026
  • The other dozen songs that populate the setlist are Mitchell classics.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 11 May 2023
  • But at least there, there are fans—thousands of them—populating the bleachers.
    — Jon Wertheim, SI.com, 2 Oct. 2019
  • It was populated by neither background singers nor a band.
    — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2026
  • The film is largely populated by birds, and every bird seems to be waiting for him.
    — Moeko Fujii, The New Yorker, 2 May 2024
  • This year, the streets were not as populated by protesters.
    — Rebecca Keegan, NBC news, 26 Jan. 2026
  • That morning when Collinson wrote down a list of things that would populate her dream life, skiing wasn’t on it.
    — Anna Callaghan, Outside Online, 17 Nov. 2022
  • Gone were the waves, the sunshine and the blond-haired girls that populated his earlier work.
    — Steve Marble, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2025
  • The fields are dry and barren now, populated by desert plants, the only kind hearty enough to survive.
    — Mustafa Salim, Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2023
  • For decades now, Ye has been building new worlds and waiting for people to populate them.
    — Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2022
  • The map itself can’t capture the changing views of the people who populate it.
    — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2026
  • On horses — stallions and mares to populate his farms with foals and yearlings purchased in the sales ring.
    — New York Times, 29 Apr. 2021
  • The people who populated her life, referred to always by their full names.
    — Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2025
  • That fact puts him at the top of a list of forwards who could potentially populate an outscoring third line.
    — Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2026
  • Want to get a closer look at the diverse menagerie of worlds populating our solar system?
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 26 Dec. 2025
  • That may be a key factor in populating a third useful line for the postseason.
    — Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2026
  • Standard tables populate the rest of the second floor, set off with a handsome moss garden and alive with the sound of jazz.
    — Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2020
  • The place seems to be populated with friends from Second City, friends from high school and friends of friends.
    — Lynn Hirschberg, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2026
  • The grounds of Todai-ji are a tranquil place, verdant and populated by tame deer.
    — Matt Alt, The New Yorker, 9 Apr. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'populate.' 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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