Showing Results for "infested"

See Also:

• past participle of infest.
• past tense form of infest.

infested

American  

[in-fes-tid] / ɪnˈfɛs tɪd /

adjective

1. overrun to an unwanted degree or in a troublesome manner by predatory animals or vermin (often used in combination).

   It is so difficult to eradicate cockroaches from an infested area.

   The only unguarded way of escape was through an alligator-infested swamp.

2. filled or riddled with anything undesirable or troublesome (usually used in combination).

   The restaurant sat in an increasingly tourist-infested part of town.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of infest.

Other Word Forms

• uninfested
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of infested

First recorded in 1890–1900; infest ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; infest ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

Infested trees can die with three to five years, while white fir withstand infestation with no apparent ill effects.

From Science Daily • May 14, 2024

Infested, she means, by an invasive insect called the emerald ash borer, which for years has been munching its way across North America, leaving huge patches of dead forest in its wake.

From New York Times • Oct. 20, 2022

Infested areas are rife with ants that stream up and down tree trunks, says Edward LeBrun, an ecologist at the University of Texas, Austin’s Brackenridge Field Laboratory and an author of the new paper.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 27, 2022

Infested moose often host tens of thousands of ticks, which burrow into their skin to suck their blood.

From Washington Post • Nov. 22, 2021

Infested as the tropical seas are with these horrible creatures, yet from the swiftly moving steamer none had hitherto been sighted.

From A Veldt Official A Novel of Circumstance by Mitford, Bertram

Related Words

• ravaged