Cultivate /(k?l"t?-v?t)/

imp. & p. p. Cultivated; p. pr. & vb. n. Cultivating

1. To bestow attention, care, and labor upon, with a view to valuable returns; to till; to fertilize; as, to cultivate soil.
2. To direct special attention to; to devote time and thought to; to foster; to cherish.

   Leisure . . . to cultivate general literature.

3. To seek the society of; to court intimacy with.

   I ever looked on Lord Keppel as one of the greatest and best men of his age; and I loved and cultivated him accordingly.

4. To improve by labor, care, or study; to impart culture to; to civilize; to refine.

   To cultivate the wild, licentious savage.

   The mind of man hath need to be prepared for piety and virtue; it must be cultivated to the end.

5. To raise or produce by tillage; to care for while growing; as, to cultivate corn or grass.