noting or pertaining to a system of agriculture involving the cultivation of limited areas, and relying on the maximum use of labor and expenditures to raise the crop yield per unit area (opposed to extensive).
5.
requiring or having a high concentration of a specified quality or element (used in combination):
Coal mining is a labor-intensive industry.
6.
Grammar. indicating increased emphasis or force. Certainly is an intensive adverb. Myself in I did it myself is an intensive pronoun.
noun
7.
something that intensifies.
8.
Grammar. an intensive element or formation, as -self in himself, or Latin -tō in iac-tō, “I hurl” from iacō, “I throw.”.
Origin
1400-50;late Middle English < Medieval Latinintēnsīvus. See intense, -ive
The odds are worse for patients who experience delirium in the intensive care unit.
But even so, it's enough to cover the additional cost of the intensive math program.
New drugs to improve memory and cognitive performance in impaired individuals are under intensive study.
The best part is there is even a rice cooker now that makes it for you, so much less labor intensive than cooking it in a pot.
Chances are, by the time the dish reaches perfection, an intensive hour has been invested.
Today's industrial agriculture is energy and resource intensive.
No matter what the illness, people in hospital intensive care units tend to have elevated blood sugar levels.
Organic farming produces far less than conventional intensive methods, and so more land must be farmed for the same yield.
intensive farming not only degrades our soils, but it also contributes to climate change.
He was admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit.
British Dictionary definitions for intensive
intensive
/ɪnˈtɛnsɪv/
adjective
1.
involving the maximum use of land, time, or some other resource: intensive agriculture, an intensive course
2.
(usually in combination) using one factor of production proportionately more than others, as specified: capital-intensive, labour-intensive
3.
(agriculture) involving or farmed using large amounts of capital or labour to increase production from a particular area Compare extensive (sense 3)
4.
denoting or relating to a grammatical intensifier
5.
denoting or belonging to a class of pronouns used to emphasize a noun or personal pronoun, such as himself in the sentence John himself did it. In English, intensive pronouns are identical in form with reflexive pronouns
6.
of or relating to intension
7.
(physics) of or relating to a local property, measurement, etc, that is independent of the extent of the system Compare extensive (sense 4)
noun
8.
an intensifier or intensive pronoun or grammatical construction
Derived Forms
intensively, adverb intensiveness, noun
Word Origin and History for intensive
adj.
mid-15c., from French intensif (14c.), from Latin intens-, past participle stem of intendere (see intend). As a noun, 1813, from the adjective. Alternative intensitive is a malformation. Intensive care attested from 1958. Related: Intensively.