'Cultivate' definitions:

Definition of 'cultivate'

From: WordNet
verb
Foster the growth of
verb
Prepare for crops; "Work the soil"; "cultivate the land" [syn: cultivate, crop, work]
verb
Teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment; "Cultivate your musical taste"; "Train your tastebuds"; "She is well schooled in poetry" [syn: educate, school, train, cultivate, civilize, civilise]
verb
Adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment; "domesticate oats"; "tame the soil" [syn: domesticate, cultivate, naturalize, naturalise, tame]

Definition of 'Cultivate'

From: GCIDE
  • Cultivate \Cul"ti*vate\ (k?l"t?-v?t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cultivated (-v?`t?d); p. pr. & vb. n. Cultivating (-v?`-t?ng).] [LL. cultivatus, p. p. of cultivare to cultivate, fr. cultivus cultivated, fr. L. cultus, p. p. of colere to till, cultivate. Cf. Colony.]
  • 1. To bestow attention, care, and labor upon, with a view to valuable returns; to till; to fertilize; as, to cultivate soil. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To direct special attention to; to devote time and thought to; to foster; to cherish. [1913 Webster]
  • Leisure . . . to cultivate general literature. --Wordsworth. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To seek the society of; to court intimacy with. [1913 Webster]
  • I ever looked on Lord Keppel as one of the greatest and best men of his age; and I loved and cultivated him accordingly. --Burke. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To improve by labor, care, or study; to impart culture to; to civilize; to refine. [1913 Webster]
  • To cultivate the wild, licentious savage. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • The mind of man hath need to be prepared for piety and virtue; it must be cultivated to the end. --Tillotson. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To raise or produce by tillage; to care for while growing; as, to cultivate corn or grass. [1913 Webster]