tr.v. in·fest·ed, in·fest·ing, in·fests 1. To inhabit or overrun in numbers or quantities large enough to be harmful, threatening, or obnoxious: rats infesting the sewers; streets that were infested with drugs. 2. To live as a parasite in or on: livestock that were infested with tapeworms. [Middle English infesten, to distress, from Old French infester, from Latin īnfestāre, from īnfestus, hostile; see gwhedh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] in′fes·tation n. |
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