incubative
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in·cu·bate
(ĭn′kyə-bāt′, ĭng′-)v. in·cu·bat·ed, in·cu·bat·ing, in·cu·bates
v.tr.
1. To sit on (eggs) to provide heat, so as to promote embryonic development and the hatching of young; brood.
2.
a. To maintain (eggs, organisms, or living tissue) at optimal environmental conditions for growth and development.
b. To maintain (a chemical or biochemical system) under specific conditions in order to promote a particular reaction.
3. To be infected with (a pathogen) before manifesting signs or symptoms of an infectious disease.
4. To form or consider slowly and protectively, as if hatching: incubated the idea for a while, then announced it.
v.intr.
1. To brood eggs.
2. To develop and hatch.
3. To undergo incubation.
[Latin incubāre, incubāt-, to lie down on : in-, on; see in-2 + cubāre, to lie down.]
in′cu·ba′tive adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.