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
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
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
-
Pine-Sol advises wiping your vessel inside and out with a little of the product on a cloth or paper towel and rinsing with water to get them back in shape.—
Lauren Wicks,
Southern Living,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Wipe away the residue with a damp microfiber cloth, rinsing it often.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
The Spruce,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The bathroom itself has a shower, a vanity sink, and a flushing toilet.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Pour half a cup of bleach into the toilet bowl, scrub with a toilet brush, and close the lid to allow the bleach to sit for a couple of minutes before flushing to rinse off the bleach.—
Maria Sabella,
The Spruce,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The inspector noted rusty shelves in the walk-in cooler, a fly strip directly over a food prep area and an employee washing their hands at the warewashing sink.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Someone else wiped his face with his hand and grabbed a bowl of cooked chicken without washing hands.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
6 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Irrigating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irrigating. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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