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incubate

verb
🔊/ˈɪŋkjubeɪt/
🔊/ˈɪŋkjubeɪt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they incubate
🔊/ˈɪŋkjubeɪt/
🔊/ˈɪŋkjubeɪt/
he / she / it incubates
🔊/ˈɪŋkjubeɪts/
🔊/ˈɪŋkjubeɪts/
past simple incubated
🔊/ˈɪŋkjubeɪtɪd/
🔊/ˈɪŋkjubeɪtɪd/
past participle incubated
🔊/ˈɪŋkjubeɪtɪd/
🔊/ˈɪŋkjubeɪtɪd/
-ing form incubating
🔊/ˈɪŋkjubeɪtɪŋ/
🔊/ˈɪŋkjubeɪtɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. [transitive] incubate something (of a bird鸟) to sit on its eggs in order to keep them warm until they hatch孵（卵）；孵化
  2. [transitive] incubate something (biology生物) to keep cells, bacteria, etc. at a suitable temperature so that they develop培养（细胞、细菌等）
    • The samples were incubated at 80°C for three minutes.将样品在80℃下孵育三分钟。
    Topics Biologyc2
  3. [transitive]
    be incubating something
    (medical医学) to have a disease developing inside you before symptoms appear有（传染病在体内）潜伏
    • The source of infection may be a person who is incubating an infectious disease.感染源可能是正在感染传染病的人。
    Topics Illnessc2
  4. [intransitive] (medical医学) (of a disease疾病) to develop slowly without showing any signs潜伏
    5. Word Originmid 17th cent.: from Latin incubat- ‘lain on’, from the verb incubare, from in- ‘upon’ + cubare ‘to lie’.