propagate — English Dictionary

propagate
Pronunciations (6)
  • /ˈpɹɒpəˌɡeɪt/
    Pronunciation notes
    • Received-Pronunciation
  • /ˈpɹɑpəˌɡeɪt/
    Pronunciation notes
    • Canada
    • General-American
  • /ˈpɹɔpəˌɡæɪt/
    Pronunciation notes
    • Australia
    • New-Zealand
  • /ˈpɹɒpəˌɡæɪt/
    Pronunciation notes
    • Australia
    • New-Zealand
  • ˈpɹɒpəˌɡeɪt
    Pronunciation notes
    • GB
  • ˈpɹɑpəˌɡeɪt
    Pronunciation notes
    • US

Verb

  1. To cause to continue or multiply by generation, or successive production.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    • of animals or plants
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    June 1879, William Keith Brooks, Popular Science Monthly Volume 15 - The Condition of Women from a Zoological Point of View I A marked bud-variation is of very rare occurrence, but in many cases the tendency of plants raised from seeds to differ from the parents is so great that choice varieties are propagated entirely by buds. It is almost hopeless to attempt to propagate a choice variety of grape or strawberry by seeds, as the individuals raised in this way seldom have the valuable qualities of their parents, and, although they may have new qualities of equal or greater value, the chances are of course greatly against this, since the possibility of undesirable variation is much greater than the chance of a desirable sport.

  2. To cause to spread to extend; to impel or continue forward in space.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples

    to propagate sound or light

  3. To spread from person to person; to extend the knowledge of; to originate and spread; to carry from place to place; to disseminate.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples
    More examples (3)

    There began to appear from the East, cropping up now here, now there, but in general along lines of advance towards the West, individuals or small communities who proposed and propagated a new and, as they called it, a purified form of religion.

    The works of the freethinker Averroes (twelfth century) which were based on Aristotle's philosophy, propagated a small wave of rationalism in Christian countries.

    The DPRK propagated an extraordinary tale of his birth occurring on Mount Baekdu, one of Korea's most revered sites, being accompanied by shooting stars in the sky.

  4. To multiply; to increase.

    Usage
    • Obsolete
    • Transitive
    Examples

    Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast, / Which thou wilt propagate.

  5. To generate; to produce.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples

    But to [Edmund] Burke, […] the mere act of movement became the principle or cause of movement. Motion propagated motion, and life threw off life.

  6. To be propagated; to travel.

    Usage
    • Intransitive
  7. To produce young; to be produced or multiplied by generation, or by new shoots or plants.

    Usage
    • Intransitive
    Examples

    As pigeons propagate so rapidly, I suppose that a thousand or fifteen hundred birds would have to be annually killed by mere chance.

  8. To take effect on all relevant devices in a network.

    Usage
    • Intransitive
    Examples

    It takes 24 hours for password changes to propagate throughout the system.

  9. To cause to take effect on all relevant devices in a network.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples

    The server propagates the password file at midnight each day.

Adjective

  1. propagated

    Usage
    • Obsolete
    • as a participle and participial adjective

Verb

  1. transmit from one generation to the next

    Broader terms
    Examples

    propagate these characteristics

  2. travel through the air

    Examples

    sound and light propagate in this medium

  3. transmit

    Examples

    propagate sound or light through air

  4. become distributed or widespread

    Synonyms
    Broader terms
    Examples

    the infection spread

    Optimism spread among the population

  5. transmit or cause to broaden or spread

    Broader terms
    Examples

    This great civilization was propagated throughout the land

  6. cause to become widely known

    Examples

    spread information

    circulate a rumor

    More examples (1)

    broadcast the news

  7. cause to propagate, as by grafting or layering

    Broader terms
  8. multiply sexually or asexually

Word forms
propagatespropagatingpropagatedpropagatedmore propagatemost propagate

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