fester
to form pus; generate purulent matter; suppurate.
to cause ulceration, as a foreign body in the flesh.
to putrefy or rot.
to rankle, as a feeling of resentment.
to cause to rankle: Malice festered his spirit.
an ulcer; a rankling sore.
a small, purulent, superficial sore.
Origin of fester
1Other words from fester
- un·fes·tered, adjective
- un·fes·ter·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use fester in a sentence
It brings out the distance and doubt that festered within the proximate intimacy of the Marston family.
Wonder Woman’s Creation Story Is Wilder Than You Could Ever Imagine | Tom Arnold-Forster | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTErik then shows me the area where the old Jewish ghetto once festered, just northeast of the main square.
Exploring the Darker Side of James Joyce’s Trieste | Jeff Campagna | January 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBecause, first of all, it sopped up all the brain cells for a year while other problems festered.
This may be the region where Islam was born, but it is also the place where Islam has lately festered and decayed.
He has festered so long on death row and so inflated his profile that fellow inmates now call him “Pops.”
The Slain Policeman's Widow in the Mumia Abu-Jamal Case Speaks | Michael Smerconish | November 8, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
A firm trust in His protecting care would have been a balm for every wound which festered and rankled at my heart's core.
The Monctons: A Novel, Volume I | Susanna MoodieMany saw a visitation for some secret sin, that otherwise might have festered inwardly and destroyed the immortal part.
Cripps, the Carrier | R. D. (Richard Doddridge) BlackmoreThe hot summer was on—Jacobus Laningdale had selected the time shrewdly—and the plague festered everywhere.
The Strength of the Strong | Jack LondonAs the wound festered and made him loathsome to the army he was left in Lemnos in the first year of the war.
Authors of Greece | T. W. LumbA nail, hidden behind the canvas entered his hand; the wound festered, and he died.
Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist | Richard G. Moulton
British Dictionary definitions for fester
/ (ˈfɛstə) /
to form or cause to form pus
(intr) to become rotten; decay
to become or cause to become bitter, irritated, etc, esp over a long period of time; rankle: resentment festered his imagination
(intr) informal to be idle or inactive
a small ulcer or sore containing pus
Origin of fester
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse