gestate

/ˈdʒɛsteɪt/
verb
  1. To carry a developing baby or embryo in the womb; to be pregnant with.
    • Mammals are animals that gestate their young inside the body.
    • The elephant gestates its calf for nearly two years.
    • During the first trimester, the body works hard to gestate the fetus.
  2. To develop or form an idea, plan, or creative work slowly in the mind.
    • The committee gestated the proposal over several months of discussion.
    • The author spent years gestating the plot of her novel before writing a single word.
    • Great inventions often gestate in the inventor's mind for a long time.
Antonyms