fatten

verb

fat·​ten ˈfa-tᵊn How to pronounce fatten (audio)
fattened; fattening ˈfat-niŋ How to pronounce fatten (audio)
ˈfa-tə-niŋ

transitive verb

1
a
: to make fat, fleshy, or plump
especially : to feed (an animal) for slaughter
b
: to make more substantial
2
: to make fertile

intransitive verb

: to become fat
fattener
ˈfat-nər How to pronounce fatten (audio)
ˈfa-tə-nər
noun

Examples of fatten in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Other restaurants are fattening bottom lines by selling more drinks, shortening their hours or renting out space for special events. Brian J. Rogal, Chicago Tribune, 15 May 2024 Companies with fattening work forces can face fines. Johann Hari, TIME, 9 May 2024 Feedlots, facilities at which animals are fattened before slaughter or before being returned to the same or different dairy farms for stronger milk production, can also act as hubs for propagating infection. Shweta Bansal and Colleen Webb, STAT, 7 May 2024 Collard greens are traditionally cooked with butter and fattening meats like bacon. Christine Mattheis, Health, 30 Mar. 2024 That meant the pasture was poor so the animals couldn’t fatten themselves up before the winter, and herders couldn’t prepare enough hay to see them through. Helen Regan, CNN, 21 Mar. 2024 Pig butchering — a scam named after the practice of farmers fattening hogs before slaughter — often starts with what appears to be a wrong-number text message. Zeke Faux, Fortune, 29 Feb. 2024 The con is called pig butchering — so named because victims are likened to hogs, fattened up for slaughter. Ken Dilanian, NBC News, 5 Feb. 2024 That no amount of water conservation in the home, on the golf course, or in the swimming pools and fountains of Los Angeles and Las Vegas will make a difference as long as half of the country’s water supply is used to fatten cattle. Wade Davis, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fatten.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1552, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of fatten was circa 1552

Dictionary Entries Near fatten

Cite this Entry

“Fatten.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fatten. Accessed 19 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

fatten

verb
fat·​ten ˈfat-ᵊn How to pronounce fatten (audio)
fattened; fattening ˈfat-niŋ How to pronounce fatten (audio)
-ᵊn-iŋ
: to make or become fat
fattener noun

More from Merriam-Webster on fatten

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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