v.tr.
1. fill with moisture; soak thoroughly.
2 (often foll. by with) fill to capacity.
3 cause (a substance, solution, vapour, metal, or air) to absorb, hold, or combine with the greatest possible amount of another substance, or of moisture, magnetism, electricity, etc.
4 cause (a substance) to combine with the maximum amount of another substance.
5 supply (a market) beyond the point at which the demand for a product is satisfied.
6 (foll. by with, in) imbue with or steep in (learning, tradition, prejudice, etc.).
7 overwhelm (enemy defences, a target area, etc.) by concentrated bombing.
8 (as saturated adj.) a (of colour) full; rich; free from an admixture of white. b (of fat molecules) containing the greatest number of hydrogen atoms.
Derivatives:
saturate adj. literary. saturable adj. saturant n. & adj.
Etymology: L saturare f. satur full