as in rinsing
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 irrigating
The dam was built to control floods from the Colorado River while also irrigating the Southwest.
—
Paige Moore, AZCentral.com, 23 Mar. 2026
Make sure plants are well watered going into fall and winter, and check soil moisture regularly over winter, irrigating as needed to maintain moist, but not wet, soil.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 5 Feb. 2026
Under the agreement, Riverview will stop irrigating 2,000 acres of crops in phases within 12 years.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
As images reach us in fragments, sound weaves a continuity from off-screen to on-screen, carrying the emotion through the film and irrigating the streams of images, like water flowing.
—Cátia Rodrigues, Variety, 16 Aug. 2025
Thirsty data That Lake Mead’s worth of water that has disappeared from beneath the lower Colorado basin has gone largely to irrigating alfalfa and other food for cows, much of which is exported.
—Mark Gongloff, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2025
That Lake Mead’s worth of water that has disappeared from beneath the lower Colorado basin has gone largely to irrigating alfalfa and other food for cows, much of which is exported.
—Mark Gongloff, Denver Post, 12 Aug. 2025
It’s been around since people have existed and has been used for cultural practices, capturing drinking water and irrigating crops.
—La Risa R. Lynch, jsonline.com, 6 Aug. 2025
Paige Moore, AZCentral.com, 23 Mar. 2026
Make sure plants are well watered going into fall and winter, and check soil moisture regularly over winter, irrigating as needed to maintain moist, but not wet, soil.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 5 Feb. 2026
Under the agreement, Riverview will stop irrigating 2,000 acres of crops in phases within 12 years.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
As images reach us in fragments, sound weaves a continuity from off-screen to on-screen, carrying the emotion through the film and irrigating the streams of images, like water flowing.
—Cátia Rodrigues, Variety, 16 Aug. 2025
Thirsty data That Lake Mead’s worth of water that has disappeared from beneath the lower Colorado basin has gone largely to irrigating alfalfa and other food for cows, much of which is exported.
—Mark Gongloff, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2025
That Lake Mead’s worth of water that has disappeared from beneath the lower Colorado basin has gone largely to irrigating alfalfa and other food for cows, much of which is exported.
—Mark Gongloff, Denver Post, 12 Aug. 2025
It’s been around since people have existed and has been used for cultural practices, capturing drinking water and irrigating crops.
—La Risa R. Lynch, jsonline.com, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irrigating
Verb
-
Raw meat was frozen in trash bags and an employee washed dishes without rinsing them.—
Eleanor Nash,
Kansas City Star,
2 Apr. 2026
-
An employee was washing and rinsing dishes.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Step two is flushing the gutters with water.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Kansas City Star,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Like any other self-flushing litter box, this one needs to be connected to both a water source and a drain.—
Maryna Holovnova,
New Atlas,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
To maintain balayage color, it is recommended to avoid washing hair for three days post-application and use hair masks or natural hair oil to keep the color vibrant.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
4 Apr. 2026
-
In college, that morphed into her providing free detergent for those washing their clothes.—
Darcel Rockett,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Irrigating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irrigating. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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