fatten

[ fat-n ]

/ ˈfæt n /

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See synonyms for: fatten / fattening on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to make fat.

to feed (animals) abundantly before slaughter.

to enrich: to fatten the soil; to fatten one's pocketbook.

Cards.

Poker. to increase the number of chips in (a pot).
Pinochle. to play a card that scores high on (a trick) expected to be taken by a partner.

verb (used without object)

to grow fat.

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Origin of fatten

First recorded in 1545–55; fat + -en¹

OTHER WORDS FROM fatten

fat·ten·a·ble, adjectivefat·ten·er, nouno·ver·fat·ten, verb (used with object)

Words nearby fatten

fatstock, fat-tailed sheep, fat tax, fatted calf, fatted calf, kill the, fatten, fattish, fattism, fatty, fatty acid, fatty alcohol

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fatten in a sentence

The ones that make it to the ocean fatten up on plankton and then head back upriver to spawn in the same creek where they were born.
The Fight to Save the Salmon|By Brian Bennett/Lapwai, Idaho with Photographs by Kiliii Yüyan|October 18, 2021|Time
When guests asked for more vegetarian options, Anju responded with dishes including wangmandu, big crisp dumplings fattened with Impossible Meat and finished with a racy chile crunch.
2021 Fall Dining Guide|Tom Sietsema|October 6, 2021|Washington Post
Tortoises begin digging burrows, bears fatten up for the winter, and Popular Science writers turn to a steady diet of hot chocolate and cheesy pasta dishes.
The best ways to wrangle, repel, and just get snakes out of your home|Natalie Wallington|October 1, 2021|Popular-Science
The big bet of One Medical and companies like it is that greater spending on primary care will fatten their bottom lines while reducing overall health costs for their clients.
Can a subscription model fix primary care in the U.S.?|Bernard J. Wolfson|June 3, 2021|Washington Post

All told, the upgrades have cut the building’s energy usage by about 40%, saved its owners more than $4 million every year and played a part in attracting high-value tenants that have fattened the building’s bottom line.
The Empire State Building's Green Retrofit Was a Success. Will Other Buildings Follow Suit?|Alejandro de la Garza|May 10, 2021|Time
We should judge innovators not on whether they fatten our wallets, but whether their products enrich our lives.
Never Mind Inequality: Silicon Valley Enriches All of Our Lives|Gregory Ferenstein|May 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The Drug Enforcement Administration partners with local police forces to fatten budgets with seizures from dealers.
Whitney Houston Death: How Sane Drug Laws May Have Prevented It|Mansfield Frazier|February 12, 2012|DAILY BEAST
So where are the angry headlines and government initiatives to fatten up our jockeys?
What's Wrong With Skinny?|Lisa Hilton|February 8, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Past thirty all men begin to dry up or fatten, and he was certainly a lean person.
The Soldier of the Valley|Nelson Lloyd
There is no more depraved class of people in the world than those human vultures who fatten on the shame of innocent young girls.
Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls|Various
He also observed the disposition to fatten in individuals, and used only such as were conspicuous in this respect.
Domestic Animals|Richard L. Allen
I would deplete the government—forage, as it were, on the enemy—thereby to fatten my purse.
The Onlooker, Volume 1, Part 2|Various
Why that wordIs rich in promise, in the action bankrupt.What faculty of mine, save dream-fed pride,Can these things fatten?
The Saint's Tragedy|Charles Kingsley

British Dictionary definitions for fatten

fatten

/ (ˈfætən) /

verb

to grow or cause to grow fat or fatter

(tr) to cause (an animal or fowl) to become fat by feeding it

(tr) to make fuller or richer

(tr) to enrich (soil) by adding fertilizing agents

Derived forms of fatten

fattenable, adjectivefattener, nounfattening, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

fatten

Origin of fatten

OTHER WORDS FROM fatten

Words nearby fatten

Words related to fatten

How to use fatten in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for fatten

Derived forms of fatten