Word Direct Answers

What does "ferment" mean?

Ferment: A gentle internal motion of the constituent parts of a fluid; fermentation. [R.] Down to the lowest lees the ferment ran. Thomson. ferment oils, volatile oils produced by the fermentation of plants, and not originally contained in them. These were the quintessences of the alchenists. Ure.

Additional senses

  1. 2.To cause ferment of fermentation in; to set in motion; to excite internal emotion in; to heat. Ye vigorous swains! while youth ferments your blood. Pope.
  2. 3.To undergo fermentation; to be in motion, or to be excited into sensible internal motion, as the constituent oarticles of an animal or vegetable fluid; to work; to effervesce.
  3. 4.To be agitated or excited by violent emotions. But finding no redress, ferment an rage. Milton. The intellect of the age was a fermenting intellect. De Quincey.

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