From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfertilizefer‧ti‧lize (also fertilise British English) /ˈfɜːtəlaɪz $ ˈfɜːrtl-aɪz/ verb [transitive] 1 MBHBPto make new animal or plant life develop After the egg has been fertilized, it will hatch in about six weeks.2 TACto put fertilizer on the soil to make plants grow —fertilization /ˌfɜːtəlaɪˈzeɪʃən $ ˌfɜːrtl-əˈzeɪ-/ noun [uncountable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
fertilize• If an egg is fertilized by a male, it always develops into a female.• Osiris represented the life-giving waters and the soil fertilized by the Nile.• After the egg has been fertilized, it will hatch in about 6 weeks.• Patala is symbolic of gold and the earth's minerals which energize the terrain and fertilize it.• Bromeliads with large blooms are fertilized more frequently.• They are largest in polyandrous birds, where several males fertilize one female, and it is not hard to see why.• When its eggs are fertilized, sometimes more than one sperm penetrates the egg.• Salomon Brothers expertise fertilized the rest of Wall Street.• Instead, ducks catch pests before they attack the rice and their manure fertilizes the soil. 