SINCE 1828
festering
adjective
fes·ter·ing
| \ ˈfe-st(ə-)riŋ
\
\
Definition of festering
1
: contaminated by an infective agent (such as a bacterium) and producing pus
a festering wound But if the patient can manage it, the whirlpool is a dandy way to handle festering bedsores.— Paul G. Donohue
2a
: persisting and growing increasingly bitter over time
festering resentment … comedy that comes from a pit of festering hatred …— Robert Brustein
b
: persistently producing bad or unhealthy effects
Four hundred yards to the west, between the schoolhouse and the mountain, lay a festering center of sin, a bootleg whiskey still operated by the celebrated anti-Prohibition guerilla Sam Reever.— Russell Baker
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