fatten

[ fat-n ]

verb (used with object)

1. to make fat.
2. to feed (animals) abundantly before slaughter.
3. to enrich:

   to fatten the soil; to fatten one's pocketbook.

4. Cards.
   1. Poker. to increase the number of chips in (a pot).
   2. Pinochle. to play a card that scores high on (a trick) expected to be taken by a partner.

verb (used without object)

1. to grow fat.

fatten

/ ˈfætən /

verb

1. to grow or cause to grow fat or fatter
2. tr to cause (an animal or fowl) to become fat by feeding it
3. tr to make fuller or richer
4. tr to enrich (soil) by adding fertilizing agents

Derived Forms

• ˈfattenable, adjective
• ˈfattener, noun
• ˈfattening, adjective

Other Word Forms

• fatten·a·ble adjective
• fatten·er noun
• over·fatten verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of fatten¹

First recorded in 1545–55; fat + -en ¹

Example Sentences

The administration initially tried to give the NIH cuts a partisan coloration, suggesting that academic centers in blue states are fattening up on “indirect” research funding.

From Los Angeles Times

For example, it banned the export of live animals from Great Britain for slaughter and fattening and changed EU laws on gene editing crops.

From BBC

Put it all together, and the Dodgers have taken one of the best rosters in baseball and fattened it.

From Los Angeles Times

Typically, once calves reach six or eight months, they are weaned and sent to larger, industrial pastures to roam in vast herds, fattening on grass, though this pastoral interlude is a short one.

From Salon

Adam worries over his physique, which he has tried to mold with Doritos, squats and a drug designed to fatten up livestock, “specifically sheep.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• augment
• broaden
• build up
• swell