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foment.

Verb
Literary
MEANING

1. To encourage or provoke unrest or another undesirable condition.

2. To treat a body part with a warm moist application.

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Words that belong together

  • foment rebellion

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The pamphlets fomented rebellion.
He was accused of fomenting distrust.

Related words

Word forms
Base
foment
Past tense
fomented
Past participle
fomented
Present participle
fomenting
Full tense & aspect guide
Present
foment
Present continuous
am/is/are fomenting
Present perfect
have/has fomented
Present perfect continuous
have/has been fomenting
Past
fomented
Past continuous
was/were fomenting
Past perfect
had fomented
Past perfect continuous
had been fomenting
Future
will foment
Future continuous
will be fomenting
Future perfect
will have fomented
Future perfect continuous
will have been fomenting

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Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: foment; foments; fomented; fomented; fomenting Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: foments.

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