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cultivator

Farming
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A cultivator is a farm implement or machine used to loosen soil, remove weeds, and prepare ground around crops.

Detailed Definition
A cultivator works the upper layer of soil, breaking crusts, uprooting weeds, and improving conditions for planted crops. It may be a hand tool, an animal-drawn implement, or a tractor-mounted machine. In poetry, the cultivator represents deliberate care rather than the first dramatic breaking of ground associated with the plough. Its repeated passage can symbolise discipline, maintenance, and patient improvement. It may also evoke mechanised farming and the human desire to impose order upon living earth.
Example
Example in poetry:
A cultivator loosening soil can symbolise careful preparation and sustained attention; The machine's ordered rows may contrast with the wild growth beyond the field; A hand cultivator can represent intimate, patient labour close to the earth; A rusted cultivator may evoke changing technology and the decline of a small farm.
Additional Notes
A cultivator may be a hand tool or a machine used to loosen surface soil, control weeds, and work between growing crops. It differs from a plough, which usually turns soil more deeply before planting. In poetry, the cultivator can represent repeated care, refinement, and the maintenance required after beginnings. Its ordered passage through a field may contrast human control with wild growth. Related terms include hoe, harrow, plough, tillage, weeding, tractor, seedbed, and soil.
Also Known As
tiller grubber scarifier harrow plough ploughman
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