If an area is populated by certain people or animals, those people or animals live there, often in large numbers. They populate the surrounding villages.
populate something (computing) to add data to a document. Definition of populate verb in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
populate (third-person singular simple present populates, present participle populating, simple past and past participle populated) (transitive) To supply with inhabitants; to people. (transitive) To live in; to inhabit. (intransitive) To increase in number; to breed. (computing, ambitransitive) To fill initially empty items in a collection. John clicked the Search button and waited for the ...
When people live in or occupy a country, city, or town, they populate it. It doesn’t always refer to people — bugs might populate your kitchen if you leave half-eaten food out. If your family lives alone on an island, you're the only people who populate it.
