ferment
Americannoun
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Also called organized ferment. any of a group of living organisms, as yeasts, molds, and certain bacteria, that cause fermentation.
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Also called unorganized ferment. an enzyme.
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agitation; unrest; excitement; commotion; tumult.
The new painters worked in a creative ferment.
The capital lived in a political ferment.
verb (used with object)
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to act upon as a ferment.
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to cause to undergo fermentation.
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to inflame; foment.
to ferment prejudiced crowds to riot.
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to cause agitation or excitement in.
Reading fermented his active imagination.
verb (used without object)
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to be fermented; undergo fermentation.
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to seethe with agitation or excitement.
noun
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any agent or substance, such as a bacterium, mould, yeast, or enzyme, that causes fermentation
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another word for fermentation
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commotion; unrest
verb
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to undergo or cause to undergo fermentation
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to stir up or seethe with excitement
Other Word Forms
- fermentability noun
- fermentable adjective
- fermenter noun
- nonfermentability noun
- nonfermentable adjective
- nonfermented adjective
- nonfermenting adjective
- unfermentable adjective
- unfermented adjective
- unfermenting adjective
- well-fermented adjective
Etymology
Origin of ferment
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin fermentum “yeast” (noun), fermentāre “to cause to rise” (verb), equivalent to fer(vēre) “to boil” + -mentum -ment ( def. ); fervent
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.
It is a sugar alcohol typically made by fermenting corn and is now used in hundreds of food products.
From Science Daily
Florence, wracked by dissent and besieged by the Holy Roman Empire, remained in ferment until the Medicis consolidated power in 1530 into what became the Duchy of Florence.
Most nectar samples contained only trace amounts, likely produced by yeast fermenting sugars.
From Science Daily
That meant that urine samples with high sugar content could have started fermenting and consequently generated alcohol that could have skewed the test result or created a false positive.
From Los Angeles Times
This one reeked even worse than the other: the straw seemed to be fermenting.
From Literature
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.
