fatten

verb

fat·ten | \ ˈfa-tᵊn

fattened; fattening\ ˈfat-niŋ

, ˈfa-tə-niŋ \

Definition of fatten

transitive verb

1a : to make fat, fleshy, or plump especially : to feed (an animal) for slaughter

b : to make more substantial

2 : to make fertile

intransitive verb

: to become fat

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Examples of fatten in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Six months after the blooms appear, clusters of seedy berries invite birds to fatten up for winter. — Adrian Higgins, The Seattle Times, "Scientists thought they had created the perfect tree. But it became a nightmare.," 17 Sep. 2018 They’re seen instead as impenetrable black boxes where our most intimate personal secrets are bought and sold to further fatten a shadowy Über-class of obscene wealth and privilege trading behind velvet ropes in elite cryptocurrencies. — Jon Talton, The Seattle Times, "Another bite of the Apple: Beyond that trillion-dollar valuation," 7 Aug. 2018 While the steel industry doesn’t know how long these tariffs will last, the jumps in steel have fattened profits for those producing in the U.S. — Alistair Macdonald, WSJ, "British Metals Magnate Bets on American Steel, Prepares U.S. Listing," 3 Dec. 2018 The data is a fresh rebuttal to those who warned that hundreds of billions of dollars of tax relief will head directly to the stock market and be harvested by shareholders already fattened by a nine-year bull market. — James Freeman, WSJ, "A Modest Trump Bump," 27 Apr. 2018 Facebook's justification for removing problematic accounts—using duplicate profiles, artificially boosting metrics, inflaming political tension to fatten ad revenue—is a tactful one. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "Facebook's Fake News Problem Isn't Russian Anymore—It's Homegrown," 12 Oct. 2018 That has come as the company has managed the rare feat of accelerating the growth of its already massive business while also fattening up its bottom line. — Dan Gallagher, WSJ, "Amazon’s Third Party Needs to Keep Raging," 7 Oct. 2018 That has helped pushed up average new-car prices to record highs and fatten auto makers’ profit margins. — Chester Dawson, WSJ, "Car Makers Get Their Wish on Fuel-Efficiency Standards," 3 Apr. 2018 Worse for Seattle is that its division deficit could conceivably grow: While the Mariners’ next six games are against the powerhouse Yankees and Red Sox on the road, the Astros get to fatten up against the Rays, Blue Jays and Royals. — Jon Tayler, SI.com, "The Houston Astros Are Only Getting Better," 19 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fatten.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.