soak implies usually prolonged immersion as for softening or cleansing.
soak the garment in soapy water
saturate implies a resulting effect of complete absorption until no more liquid can be held.
a saturated sponge
drench implies a thorough wetting by something that pours down or is poured.
clothes drenched by a cloudburst
steep suggests either the extraction of an essence (as of tea leaves) by the liquid or the imparting of a quality (such as a color) to the thing immersed.
steep the tea for five minutes
impregnate implies a thorough interpenetration of one thing by another.
a cake strongly impregnated with brandy
Example Sentences
VerbSaturate the sponge with water. Images of the war saturated the news. Their new products are saturating the market. Adjective the test will only work if the sample cloth is saturate with solution
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
In February 2021, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman announced the creation of the Traffic Safety Unit, which includes about 20 officers who saturate specific areas of the city with daily traffic patrols. Evan Casey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12 May 2022 Adjust each irrigation zone’s run time to saturate the soil surrounding plant roots. Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 July 2022 The hot, dry air evaporates water quickly, which in turn increases the amount needed to saturate a lawn. Rachel Ramirez, CNN, 28 Apr. 2022 Pour a small amount of the liquid into a small cup and dip your brush to saturate.ELLE, 31 Mar. 2022 The model recently posted a reel sharing her application process of the Self Tanning Foam in the shade dark, using two pumps of the mousse on a tanning mitt per pass and waiting six to eight hours for the formula to fully saturate her skin. Alyssa Brascia, PEOPLE.com, 12 July 2022 Separate the ponytail into two pieces and saturate it with the Curl Corps Enhancing Gel. Tiffany Dodson, Harper's BAZAAR, 13 June 2022 The trial’s live stream provided hours of raw material for the fancams, TikTok lip-synchs, and cheapo animations that the pro-Depp legions used to saturate every corner of digital space. Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 2 June 2022 Rising water levels can saturate rocks along the shoreline and weaken the cementing agents that bond the rock together, while declining water levels can destabilize the slopes by removing some of the rocks' confining pressure. Rachel Ramirez And Sharif Paget, CNN, 1 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Latin saturatus, past participle of saturare, from satur well-fed — more at satire