fes·ter

[fes-ter]
verb (used without object)
1.
to form pus; generate purulent matter; suppurate.
2.
to cause ulceration, as a foreign body in the flesh.
3.
to putrefy or rot.
4.
to rankle, as a feeling of resentment.
verb (used with object)
5.
to cause to rankle: Malice festered his spirit.
00:10
Fester is one of our favorite verbs.
So is skedaddle. Does it mean:
to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.
to run away hurriedly; flee.
noun
6.
an ulcer; a rankling sore.
7.
a small, purulent, superficial sore.

Origin:
1350–1400; (noun) Middle English festir, festre < Anglo-French, Old French festre < Latin fistula fistula (for -l- > -r- cf. chapter); (v.) Middle English festryn, derivative of the noun or < Old French festrir

un·fes·tered, adjective
un·fes·ter·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To fester
Collins
World English Dictionary
fester (ˈfɛstə) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
1.  to form or cause to form pus
2.  (intr) to become rotten; decay
3.  to become or cause to become bitter, irritated, etc, esp over a long period of time; rankle: resentment festered his imagination
4.  informal (intr) to be idle or inactive
 
n
5.  a small ulcer or sore containing pus
 
[C13: from Old French festre suppurating sore, from Latin: fistula]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

fester
late 14c., from O.Fr. festre, from L. fistula "pipe, ulcer" (see fistula). The noun is from c.1300. Related: Festered; festering.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

fester fes·ter (fěs'tər)
v. fes·tered, fes·ter·ing, fes·ters

  1. To ulcerate.

  2. To form pus; putrefy.

n.
An ulcer.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
And illiquidity easily breeds insolvency if panic is allowed to fester.
And the procrastination, denial, and lack of will that has allowed these
  problems to continue to fester.
So daft strategies fester rather than getting culled quickly.
Diseases might fester because the urinals weren't being washed down with every
  use.
Related Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT