pollinate

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Despite their disgusting appearance,” lovebugs provide environmental benefits, too, the video notes: The adults pollinate flowers, while the larvae aid the natural composting of soil.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2025

While some bee-keepers aim only to produce honey, many others rent out their hives to farmers who need the insects to pollinate their crops.

From BBC • May 31, 2025

Those don't sound like organisms that anybody actively wants to lure, but these bugs are helping to pollinate the plant.

From Salon • May 27, 2025

The discovery of a unique case where the same insect species both pollinate a plant and distribute its seeds not only solves a long-standing botanical mystery.

From Science Daily • Dec. 4, 2024

They were mostly self-pollinating: that is, the crop varieties could pollinate themselves and pass on their own desirable genes unchanged, instead of having to hybridize with other varieties less useful to humans.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond