Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To generate pus; suppurate.
- intransitive verb To form an ulcer.
- intransitive verb To undergo decay; rot.
- intransitive verb To be or become an increasing source of irritation or poisoning; rankle.
- intransitive verb To be subject to or exist in a condition of decline.
- intransitive verb To infect, inflame, or corrupt.
- noun A small festering sore or ulcer; a pustule.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Same as
festue . - noun An ulcer; a rankling sore; a small purulent tumor; more particularly, a superficial suppuration resulting from irritation of the skin, the pus being developed in vesicles of irregular figure and extent.
- noun The act of festering or rankling.
- To become a fester; generate purulent matter, as a wound; suppurate; ulcerate.
- To become corrupt; generate rottenness; rot.
- To become more and more virulent; rankle, as a feeling of resentment or hatred.
- To cause to fester: as, exposure festers a wound.
- To cause to rankle, as a feeling of resentment.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To generate pus; to become imflamed and suppurate.
- intransitive verb To be inflamed; to grow virulent, or malignant; to grow in intensity; to rankle.
- noun A small sore which becomes inflamed and discharges corrupt matter; a pustule.
- noun A festering or rankling.
- transitive verb To cause to fester or rankle.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To become
septic ; to becomerotten . - verb To
worsen , especially due to lack of attention.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a sore that has become inflamed and formed pus
- verb ripen and generate pus
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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Killing everything or continuing to let this hesitancy fester is not going to get it done.
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Jeff, fester is not blaiming the reporters for crying, if I understand him.
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MARCIANO: So Ida going to hang around, kind of fester a little bit and bothers, right, almost for the weekend.
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Give it a few more days to kind of fester, and the come out.
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CNN into the source controversy using the word "fester"
Sound Politics: Case Study: Why Conservatives Distrust the MSM 2007
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And apologies for the two comments, I had forgotten the word "fester"
MadLiberation 2008
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This one is just going to be -- just kind of fester and pester folks.
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Designer labels fester in fiction despite the critics’ complaints
Do We Need Awards for Brand-Name Blight in Fiction? « One-Minute Book Reviews 2007
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Designer labels fester in fiction despite the critics’ complaints
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Designer labels fester in fiction despite the critics’ complaints
maire commented on the word fester
gunther's rage on the line at the BMW factory was mounting because the boss kept after him to work fester and fester.
November 1, 2007
sonofgroucho commented on the word fester
:-)
November 1, 2007
oroboros commented on the word fester
Fester Bestertester, MAD magazine character.
November 2, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word fester
I had a small pet rodent named Fester. She was very lovely and tame.
November 2, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word fester
Wait--the definition of fester is a noun? I never heard that. I thought it was a verb, meaning to become inflamed/infected. Is it a noun as well?
November 2, 2007
john commented on the word fester
It can be both, according to WordNet (WordNet: sounds kind of Orwellian, no?).
For a given word WordNet will tell you what part of speech is most common (its "polysemy count"), and it's usually spot on. I have the Word pages set up to figure out which part of speech is most common, and display that definition. This usually works, but for some reason it's claiming that the noun and verb forms of 'fester' have an equal polysemy count. Which strikes me as wrong: I agree with you, it's much more common as a verb.
So, I guess WordNet ain't perfect. Better than nothing, though, I think. What do you think?
November 2, 2007
reesetee commented on the word fester
I like it! Although I guess we're bound to see this kind of thing happen now and then.
John, are you still planning on keeping the taggable parts of speech option now that you've set this up?
November 2, 2007
picklechipsluva5 commented on the word fester
This word, though somewhat grotesque is one of my all time favorites. Festering wound. Gives me chills.
November 2, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word fester
I'll post this somewhere else too, but John: I hope you DO keep the tagging option whether you keep the WordNet stuff or not.
November 2, 2007
reesetee commented on the word fester
Oh, I meant only the POS tagging option, chained_bear. :-)
November 2, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word fester
So did I.
November 2, 2007
samoritan commented on the word fester
Fester Bestertester! I remember him! (said Uncle Fester)
December 15, 2007
hernesheir commented on the word fester
Just be thankful that Bob's your uncle.
September 27, 2011