as in plaguing
to spread or swarm over in a troublesome manner
in desperation, we called in an exterminator because the house was infested with ants
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of infesting
The moths infesting a pantry are not the same as moths hiding in your closet.
—
Lauren Wicks, Southern Living, 28 Oct. 2025
Quagga mussels and golden mussels, fingernail-sized invaders infesting California waterways, clog the water pumps and pipes responsible for distributing water to millions of people and vast stretches of farmland.
—Pam Marrone, Mercury News, 26 Sep. 2025
Aphids and Spider Mites These tiny, sap-sucking insects become more active in the fall, infesting flowering and fruiting plants.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Sep. 2025
Lauren Wicks, Southern Living, 28 Oct. 2025
Quagga mussels and golden mussels, fingernail-sized invaders infesting California waterways, clog the water pumps and pipes responsible for distributing water to millions of people and vast stretches of farmland.
—Pam Marrone, Mercury News, 26 Sep. 2025
Aphids and Spider Mites These tiny, sap-sucking insects become more active in the fall, infesting flowering and fruiting plants.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for infesting
Verb
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Restaurants expanding reach Marcos Carbajal, owner of Carnitas Uruapan in the Little Village, Pilsen and Gage Park neighborhoods, has been vocal about the financial struggles plaguing his restaurant since federal immigration enforcement rippled through the city starting in September.—
Zareen Syed,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Feb. 2026
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Mayor Hogsett avoids police chief drama plaguing other cities, James Briggs argues.—
Joe Mutascio,
IndyStar,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Stay low and keep crawling forward for 3 sets of 10 repetitions.—
RikkiLynn Shields Hannigan,
Health,
29 Jan. 2026
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Few things shake the confidence of a person like crawling to the top bunk of a quivering bed frame, your feet wrapping uncomfortably along the frail metal rungs of the ladder.—
Julia Harrison,
Architectural Digest,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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What neither Bond nor Blofeld know, though, is that Safin has already intercepted Madeline, infecting her with a Heracles variant that is harmless to her but fatal to Blofeld.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Jan. 2026
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Well, this research team from Yale found that their laboratory noses could produce interferons that could then keep the rhinovirus from infecting cells and thus limit the spread of the virus.—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
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His issues overrunning plays feel like ages ago.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
20 Jan. 2026
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Russian forces seized the nuclear plant and its surrounding area in the early days of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, overrunning the plant in February 2022 and holding staff hostage.—
Kara Fox,
CNN Money,
6 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Infesting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infesting. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
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