 | WordWeight : Weighing the Words |
| WordWeight : Weighing the Words |
Foment
Pronunciation : Fo*ment"
Part of Speech : v.
Etymology : [F. fomenter, fr. L. fomentare, fr. fomentum (for fovimentum) a warm application or lotion, fr. fovere to warm or keep warm; perh. akin to Gr. bake.]
Definition : 1. To apply a warm lotion to; to bathe with a cloth or sponge wet with warm water or medicated liquid.
2. To cherish with heat; to foster. [Obs.] Which these soft fires . . . foment and warm. Milton.
3. To nurse to life or activity; to cherish and promote by excitements; to encourage; to abet; to instigate; -- used often in a bad sense; as, to foment ill humors. Locke. But quench the choler you foment in vain. Dryden. Exciting and fomenting a religious rebellion. Southey.
t. [imp. & p. p. Fomented; p. pr. & vb. n. Fomenting.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
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