cultivate

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• transitive verb To improve and prepare (land), as by plowing or fertilizing, for raising crops; till.
• transitive verb To loosen or dig soil around (growing plants).
• transitive verb To grow or tend (a plant or crop).
• transitive verb To promote the growth of (a biological culture).
• transitive verb To encourage or foster: synonym: nurture.
• transitive verb To acquire, develop, or refine, as by education.
• transitive verb To seek the acquaintance or goodwill of; make friends with.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To till; prepare for crops; manure, plow, dress, sow, and reap; manage and improve in husbandry: as, to cultivate land; to cultivate a farm.
• To raise or produce by tillage: as, to cultivate corn or grass.
• To use a cultivator upon; run a cultivator through: as, to cultivate a field of standing corn. See cultivator .
• To improve and strengthen by labor or study; promote the development or increase of; cherish; foster: as, to cultivate talents; to cultivate a taste for poetry.
• To direct special attention to; devote study, labor, or care to; study to understand, derive advantage from, etc.: as, to cultivate literature; to cultivate an acquaintance.
• To improve; meliorate; correct; civilize.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb To bestow attention, care, and labor upon, with a view to valuable returns; to till; to fertilize.
• transitive verb To direct special attention to; to devote time and thought to; to foster; to cherish.
• transitive verb To seek the society of; to court intimacy with.
• transitive verb To improve by labor, care, or study; to impart culture to; to civilize; to refine.
• transitive verb To raise or produce by tillage; to care for while growing.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• verb To grow plants, notably crops
• verb To nurture; to foster; to tend.
• verb To turn or stir soil in preparation for planting.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• verb prepare for crops
• verb teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment
• verb foster the growth of
• verb adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment