I. ˈfestə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English fester, festre, from Middle French festre, from Latin fistula pipe, tube, a kind of ulcer
1. : a suppurating sore : pustule , abscess
2. : pus from an abscess
II. verb
( festered ; festered ; festering ˈfest(ə)riŋ ; festers )
Etymology: Middle English festren, from festre, n.
intransitive verb
1. : to generate pus
the wound becomes inflamed and festers
2. : to become putrid : putrefy , rot
a heritage of blackened ruins and festering cemeteries — G.B.Shaw
3.
a. : to produce continual or progressive irritation or malignancy (as in a mind or population) : rankle
an injustice that will fester in their minds until the situation is corrected
resentment that festered until it broke out in violence
b. : to develop by becoming increasingly virulent or malignant
the quarrel … burst out again and quickly festered into the definitive schism of 1054 — A.J.Toynbee
c. : to undergo or exist in a state of often progressive deterioration
comradeship can fester into hatred — Merle Miller
: reek with corruption
the city's festering slums
transitive verb
: to exert a malignant influence on : inflame , corrupt
the Argentina situation stood out as the sorest thumb of Pan-America, continuing to fester and fever the whole system — Annals of American Acad. of Polit. & Society Sci.