/ ˈpestə(r); NAmE / verb
pester sb (for / with sth) to annoy sb, especially by asking them sth many times
SYN badger :
[ vn ]
Journalists pestered neighbours for information.
He has been pestering her with phone calls for over a week.
The horses were continually pestered by flies.
[ vn to inf ]
The kids kept pestering me to read to them.
[also v ]
••
WORD ORIGIN
mid 16th cent. (in the senses overcrowd (a place) and impede (a person) ): from French empestrer encumber, influenced by pest . The current sense is an extension of an earlier use, infest , referring to vermin.