I. sat ‧ u ‧ rate 1 /ˈsætʃəreɪt/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: past participle of saturare , from satur 'having had enough' ]
1 . formal to make something very wet SYN soak OPP dry :
Water poured through the hole, saturating the carpet.
2 . to put a lot of something into a particular place, especially so that you could not add any more
saturate something with something
Our culture is saturated with television and advertising.
3 . saturate the market to offer so much of a product for sale that there is more than people want to buy
4 . technical to mix as much of a solid into a chemical mixture as possible
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THESAURUS
▪ wet to put water or another liquid onto something to make it wet. In spoken English, people will often use get something wet rather than wet :
He wet the washcloth and washed Tom’s face.
▪ splash to make someone or something wet by making a lot of small drops of water fall onto them:
The kids were playing around in the pool, splashing each other.
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I accidentally splashed soup onto my shirt.
▪ soak to put something in water for a long time or to make something very wet – use this especially when something is put into water or the water comes up from underneath to make it wet:
Soak the beans overnight before cooking.
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The rain had come in through the bottom of our tent and completely soaked our clothes.
▪ drench to make someone or something extremely wet with a large amount of water – use this especially when water is poured or falls on something:
He drenched us all with the hose.
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Her shirt was drenched in sweat.
▪ saturate formal to completely cover or fill something with liquid, so that it is wet all the way through:
Heavy rains had saturated the ground.
▪ flood to cover an area of land with a large amount of water:
Farmers flood the fields in order to grow rice.
▪ moisten to make something slightly wet by putting a small amount of water or another liquid on it, especially to stop it from getting too dry:
Add just enough water to moisten the cake mixture.
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Tom paused and moistened his lips.
▪ dampen to make something slightly wet by putting a little water on it:
Rain came in through the window, dampening the curtains.
II. sat ‧ u ‧ rate 2 /ˈsætʃərət, ˈsætʃərɪt/ BrE AmE noun [countable usually plural]
a type of fat from meat or milk products that is thought to be less healthy than other kinds of fat from vegetables or fish SYN saturated fat :
Choose a type of spread that’s lower in saturates than butter.