foment
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to encourage or instigate (trouble, discord, etc); stir up
-
med to apply heat and moisture to (a part of the body) to relieve pain and inflammation
Usage
Both foment and ferment can be used to talk about stirring up trouble: he was accused of fomenting/fermenting unrest . Only ferment can be used intransitively or as a noun: his anger continued to ferment (not foment ); rural areas were unaffected by the ferment in the cities
Other Word Forms
- fomentation noun
- fomenter noun
- unfomented adjective
Etymology
Origin of foment
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English fomenten, from Late Latin fōmentāre, verbal derivative of Latin fōmentum “soothing application, poultice,” contraction of unattested fōvimentum, equivalent to fōv(ēre) “to keep warm” + -i- -i- + -mentum -ment
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But it’s the lack of transparency and the 11-month delay in reporting the reading that has fomented community mistrust and raised questions regarding the military’s competency to safely clean up the polluted shipyard.
From Los Angeles Times
He condemned Fuentes, saying he was “fomenting Jew hatred, and his incitements are not only immoral and un-Christian, they risk violence.”
From Los Angeles Times
It doesn’t “conceal its funding sources and operations,” and it certainly isn’t involved in “spreading, fomenting, and advancing political violence and suppressing lawful political speech.”
From Salon
They've also uncovered a plot to foment violent unrest, detaining dozens of men who travelled to Serbia for training including in the use of firearms.
From BBC
His extradition comes days before Sunday's parliamentary elections, with President Maia Sandu warning that Moldova's independence and European future are in danger because of attempts by Russia to foment violence and spread disinformation.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
