fester
verb (used without object)
to form pus; generate purulent matter; suppurate.
was festering
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past progressiveof fester.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
“The crisis from underinvesting was festering before it erupted,” she says.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 19, 2021
The nation has a plague of housing instability that was festering long before Covid-19, and the pandemic’s economic toll has only made it worse.
From New York Times ● Feb. 6, 2021
Hogan: Right—if this show was being made in 2016–2017, what it really does is shine a light on just how wrong we all were about what was festering in our culture.
From Slate ● Mar. 1, 2018
The disease was festering in Guinea’s remote villages and spreading into Sierra Leone and Liberia, fueling the epidemic.
From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2014
I felt like something ill was festering in my stomach, and my head felt like a piñata stuffed with cotton balls.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
