In"cu*bate (?), v. i. & t. [imp. & p. p. Incubated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Incubating (?).] [L. incubatus, p. p. incubare to lie on; pref. in- in, on + cubare to lie down. Cf. Cubit, Incumbent.] To sit, as on eggs for hatching; to brood; to brood upon, or keep warm, as eggs, for the purpose of hatching.

• To brood, raise, or maintain eggs, organisms, or living tissue through the provision of ideal environmental conditions.
       1975: Part of our problem in praying for our children, he suggested, is the time lage, the necessary slow maturation of our prayers. But that's the way of God's rhythm in nature. For instance, the hend must patiently sit on her eggs to incubate them before the baby chicks hatch. - Catherine Marshall, Adventures in Prayer: page 46. New York: Ballantine Books, December 1976
       1985: The mother dead these fourteen years did incubate in her own bosom the creature who would carry her off. - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian: page 3. New York: Vintage International, May 1992
       2004: The female cichlid fish are called "mouth breeders," which means they incubate eggs in their mouth. - A. J. Jacobs, The Know-It-All : One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World: page 50. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004
  
• To incubate metaphorically; to ponder an idea slowly and deliberately as if in preperation for hatching it.
       1992: When you've got your theme–let the concept incubate. Walk around with it, sleep on it. - Sheila Davis, The Songwriters Idea Book: 40 Strategies to Excite Your Imagination, Help You Design Distinctive Songs, and Keep Your Creative Flow: page 96. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 1992