infest
/ɪnˈfɛst/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.54 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To invade a host plant or animal.
Example Sentences
- "Insects are infesting my basement!"
- "Sir, my liege, Do not infest your mind with beating on The strangeness of this business; at pick’d leisure Which shall be shortly, I’ll resolve you, Which to you shall seem probable, of every These happen’d accidents; till when, be cheerful And think of each thing well."
- "I come now to speak of the Pyrates infesting the West-Indies, where they are more numerous than in any other Parts of the World, on several Reasons […]"
- "It has often happened, that whole caravans have perished in crossing those deserts, either by the burning winds that infest them, or by the sands which are raised by the tempest, and overwhelm every creature in certain ruin."
- "Nor was the biscuit much better; nearly all of it was broken into hard, little gunflints, honeycombed through and through, as if the worms usually infesting this article in long tropical voyages had, in boring after nutriment, come out at the antipodes without finding anything."
- "[…] The swarme of scaled snakes Did make an yrksome noyce to heare, as she her tresses shakes. About her shoulders some did craule, some trayling downe her brest, Did hisse, and spit out poison greene, and spirt with tongues infest."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
infests (present, singular)
infesting (participle, present)
infested (participle, past)
infested (past)
more infest (comparative)
most infest (superlative)