How to Use propagate in a Sentence

propagate

verb
  • The plants failed to propagate.
  • He propagated the apple tree by grafting.
  • We are discovering new ways to propagate plants without seeds.
  • Leave most of the bulbs in the ground to propagate next year.
    New York Times, 17 May 2021
  • The wave that’s propagating through the heart that starts the wave.
    Steven Strogatz, Quanta Magazine, 12 July 2023
  • In fact, the sound waves can propagate halfway across the globe.
    Taylor L. MacHette, Scientific American, 4 Oct. 2020
  • The South has many favorite plants from which to take cuttings and propagate new growth.
    Southern Living, 14 June 2021
  • The best time of year to propagate is spring through October.
    oregonlive, 8 Apr. 2021
  • The team is now propagating the grape tissue cells and clearing them of pathogens.
    Yadid Levy, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Apr. 2020
  • To propagate this herb, simply dig up and separate a few bulbs and stick them in the ground.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 May 2022
  • In some cases, this could cause a cascade of errors to propagate through the code.
    Katie McCormick, Quanta Magazine, 16 Nov. 2021
  • Use stems that grew the previous year if propagating with this method in the spring.
    Lynn Coulter, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Mar. 2023
  • So the code that is output can fail on tasks or propagate subtle bugs.
    Jaideep Vaidya, IEEE Spectrum, 11 June 2023
  • Choose a vessel to propagate your cutting in, such as an old jar or small vase.
    Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2021
  • In turn, all of their neighbors become red, and so on, propagating through the map.
    Jack Murtagh, Scientific American, 24 July 2023
  • Their staff will collect seeds of some of the rare plants in the Dusty Preserve and propagate them to be replanted or shared.
    Maria Shine Stewart, cleveland, 3 Aug. 2021
  • This pick has three glass beakers so your bestie can watch as the roots grow on their propagating houseplants.
    Jessica Comstock, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 May 2023
  • The updates business owners make to their cards will propagate to all these places, not just Maps.
    Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, 11 Jan. 2023
  • Follow these steps to propagate your redbud tree: Collect brown, dry pods in the fall and remove the seeds.
    Steve Bender, Southern Living, 23 Jan. 2023
  • If propagating plants already in your yard, such as birds of paradise, use a small handsaw or sharp knife to cut at the base of the plant.
    Jasmin Perez, Sunset Magazine, 5 May 2020
  • The propagating wave sleep could be compared to the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage in humans.
    Discover Magazine, 1 Oct. 2024
  • But for cheats and liars, for bullies and tyrants, for those who seek to use my words to propagate deceit and injustice?
    Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 29 Oct. 2019
  • To propagate them in pots, trim your herbs leaving three nodes with foliage on it and three nodes without leaves.
    Deanna Kizis, Sunset Magazine, 18 Aug. 2022
  • There are a few ways to propagate a new African violet, but the easiest is the water method.
    Arricca Elin Sansone, Country Living, 20 July 2021
  • Most of the time, our estimates are accurate enough to keep us alive and propagating the species.
    Alexandra Ossola, Quartz, 20 Nov. 2019
  • Wind makes the reaction worse while helping the plants to propagate their seeds more widely.
    Natasha Frost, Quartz, 2 Sep. 2019
  • It was propagated by people who hate us to describe a movement to get rid of us.
    Lana Melman, Sun Sentinel, 16 July 2024
  • The best-case scenario for nursery owners, Dupont said, is to propagate your own, which requires time and space.
    Jennifer Bolton, Houston Chronicle, 13 Oct. 2020
  • An open mind will recognize the best route forward and the path that propagates positive change.
    Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 6 Oct. 2024
  • It’s propagated when its pieces are naturally broken off by wind or animals feathering nests.
    Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 27 Nov. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'propagate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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