Infest

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Infest \In*fest"\, a. [L. infestus. See {Infest}, v. t.]
     Mischievous; hurtful; harassing. [Obs.] --Spenser.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Infest \In*fest"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Infested}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Infesting}.] [L. infestare, fr. infestus disturbed,
     hostile, troublesome; in in, against + the root of defendere:
     cf. F. infester. See {Defend}.]
     To trouble greatly by numbers or by frequency of presence; to
     disturb; to annoy; to frequent and molest or harass; as,
     fleas infest dogs and cats; a sea infested with pirates.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           To poison vermin that infest his plants. --Cowper.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           These, said the genius, are envy, avarice,
           superstition, love, with the like cares and passions
           that infest human life.                  --Addison.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           And the cares, that infest the day,
           Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
           And as silently steal away.              --Longfellow.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  infest
       v 1: invade in great numbers; "the roaches infested our kitchen"
            [syn: {overrun}]
       2: occupy in large numbers or live on a host; "the Kudzu plant
          infests much of the South and is spreading to the North"
          [syn: {invade}, {overrun}]
       3: live on or in a host, as of parasites

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  18 Moby Thesaurus words for "infest":
     beset, crawl with, creep with, flood, infiltrate, inundate, invade,
     overrun, overspread, overswarm, penetrate, permeate, pervade,
     plague, ravage, swarm, swarm over, swarm with