congest
Americanverb (used with object)
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to fill to excess; overcrowd or overburden; clog.
The subway entrance was so congested that no one could move.
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Pathology. to cause an unnatural accumulation of blood or other fluid in (a body part or blood vessel).
The cold congested her sinuses.
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Obsolete. to heap together.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to crowd or become crowded to excess; overfill
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to overload or clog (an organ or part) with blood or (of an organ or part) to become overloaded or clogged with blood
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(tr; usually passive) to block (the nose) with mucus
Other Word Forms
- congestible adjective
- congestive adjective
- noncongestive adjective
- precongested adjective
- precongestive adjective
- supercongested adjective
- uncongested adjective
- uncongestive adjective
Etymology
Origin of congest
1530–40; < Latin congestus (past participle of congerere; congeries ), equivalent to con- con- + ges- (variant stem of gerere ) + -tus past participle suffix
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.
Widening is underway between Renton and Bellevue, to result in two toll lanes and two free lanes each direction in 2025, where one free carpool lane and two general-traffic lanes congest now.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 18, 2023
But it all serves to congest an already sluggish, choppy and exasperating film, one which asks you to suspend your disbelief— big time — with little emotional reward in return.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 6, 2023
Space Command, told reporters on a teleconference from Hawaii that such ASAT, or anti-satellite, tests congest space with debris.
From Reuters • Dec. 9, 2022
The protest has inspired others around the world to stage similar action, in a bid to congest city roads and attract attention - such as in France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
From BBC • Feb. 13, 2022
When I turned again to the scene below I found that the crowd had thickened considerably, and that the policeman had once more left the traffic to congest itself, and joined in the game.
From The Right Stuff Some Episodes in the Career of a North Briton by Hay, Ian
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.
