infest

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English infesten, from Old French infester (“to infest”), from Latin īnfestō (“assail, molest”, verb), from īnfestus (“hostile”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɪnˈfɛst/ Rhymes: -ɛst === Verb === infest (third-person singular simple present infests, present participle infesting, simple past and past participle infested) (transitive) To inhabit a place in unpleasantly large numbers; to plague, harass. (pathology, of a parasite) To invade a host plant or animal. ==== Synonyms ==== beride, plague ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== infestation infestuous ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === infest (comparative more infest, superlative most infest) (obsolete) Mischievous; hurtful; harassing. === Noun === infest (uncountable) (obsolete) Hostility. 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book II, Canto Eleven, Stanza 32, Hackett, 2006, p. 191, Like as a fire, the which in hollow cave Hath long bene underkept, and down supprest, With murmurous disdayne doth inly rave, And grudge, in so streight prison to be prest, At last breakes forth with furious infest, And strives to mount unto his native seat […] === Anagrams === feints, finest, stefin