fatten

American  

[fat-n] / ˈfæt n /

verb (used with object)

1. to make fat.

2. to feed (animals) abundantly before slaughter.

3. to enrich.

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

4. Cards.

   1. Poker. to increase the number of chips in (a pot).

   2. Pinochle. to play a card that scores high on (a trick) expected to be taken by a partner.

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verb (used without object)

1. to grow fat.

fatten British  

/ ˈfætən /

verb

1. to grow or cause to grow fat or fatter

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

3. (tr) to make fuller or richer

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

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Other Word Forms

• fattenable adjective
• fattener noun
• fattening adjective
• overfatten verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of fatten

First recorded in 1545–55; fat + -en ¹

Example Sentences

Feeders are ranchers who own feedlots where they fatten cattle and sell them to meatpackers.

From The Wall Street Journal

They arrived at the start of December at Smithfield Common in the City of London, where they were rested and fattened up for Christmas.

From BBC

"I am thinking of setting up a new unit with my son for fattening calves," he says.

From BBC

They are used to supply farms where they are fattened up for sale in Asia where eels are a highly sought delicacy.

From Barron's

He was a skinny teenager told to go to buy milkshakes to "fatten him up".

From BBC

Related Words

• augment
• broaden
• build up
• swell