ferment
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
ferment
n 1: a state of agitation or turbulent change or development;
"the political ferment produced new leadership"; "social
unrest" [syn: {agitation}, {ferment}, {fermentation},
{tempestuousness}, {unrest}]
2: a substance capable of bringing about fermentation
3: a process in which an agent causes an organic substance to
break down into simpler substances; especially, the anaerobic
breakdown of sugar into alcohol [syn: {zymosis}, {zymolysis},
{fermentation}, {fermenting}, {ferment}]
v 1: be in an agitated or excited state; "The Middle East is
fermenting"; "Her mind ferments"
2: work up into agitation or excitement; "Islam is fermenting
Africa"
3: cause to undergo fermentation; "We ferment the grapes for a
very long time to achieve high alcohol content"; "The vintner
worked the wine in big oak vats" [syn: {ferment}, {work}]
4: go sour or spoil; "The milk has soured"; "The wine worked";
"The cream has turned--we have to throw it out" [syn: {sour},
{turn}, {ferment}, {work}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Ferment \Fer"ment\, n. [L. fermentum ferment (in senses 1 & 2),
perh. for fervimentum, fr. fervere to be boiling hot, boil,
ferment: cf. F. ferment. Cf. 1st {Barm}, {Fervent}.]
1. That which causes fermentation, as yeast, barm, or
fermenting beer.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Ferments are of two kinds: ({a}) Formed or organized
ferments. ({b}) Unorganized or structureless ferments.
The latter are now called {enzymes} and were formerly
called {soluble ferments} or {chemical ferments}.
Ferments of the first class are as a rule simple
microscopic vegetable organisms, and the fermentations
which they engender are due to their growth and
development; as, the {acetic ferment}, the {butyric
ferment}, etc. See {Fermentation}. Ferments of the
second class, on the other hand, are chemical
substances; as a rule they are proteins soluble in
glycerin and precipitated by alcohol. In action they
are catalytic and, mainly, hydrolytic. Good examples
are pepsin of the dastric juice, ptyalin of the salvia,
and disease of malt. Before 1960 the term "ferment" to
mean "enzyme" fell out of use. Enzymes are now known to
be {globular protein}s, capable of catalyzing a wide
variety of chemical reactions, not merely hydrolytic.
The full set of enzymes causing production of ethyl
alcohol from sugar has been identified and individually
purified and studied. See {enzyme}.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
2. Intestine motion; heat; tumult; agitation.
[1913 Webster]
Subdue and cool the ferment of desire. --Rogers.
[1913 Webster]
the nation is in a ferment. --Walpole.
[1913 Webster]
3. A gentle internal motion of the constituent parts of a
fluid; fermentation. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
Down to the lowest lees the ferment ran. --Thomson.
[1913 Webster]
{ferment oils}, volatile oils produced by the fermentation of
plants, and not originally contained in them. These were
the quintessences of the alchemists. --Ure.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Ferment \Fer*ment"\, v. i.
1. To undergo fermentation; to be in motion, or to be excited
into sensible internal motion, as the constituent
particles of an animal or vegetable fluid; to work; to
effervesce.
[1913 Webster]
2. To be agitated or excited by violent emotions.
[1913 Webster]
But finding no redress, ferment and rage. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
The intellect of the age was a fermenting intellect.
--De Quincey.
[1913 Webster]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
281 Moby Thesaurus words for "ferment":
acetification, acetify, acidification, acidify, acidulate,
acidulation, ado, agent, agitate, agitation, ailment, alkalify,
alkalization, alkalize, alterant, alterative, alterer, arouse,
bacteria, beat, beat up, blow the coals, blubber, bluster, bobbery,
boil, boil over, boiling, borate, bother, botheration, brawl, brew,
broil, brouhaha, bubble, bubble over, bubble up, bubbliness,
bubbling, burble, burst, bustle, buttermilk, cacophony,
carbon dioxide, carbonate, carbonation, catalysis, catalyst,
catalytic agent, catalyze, chaos, chemical, chemicalization,
chlorinate, churn, churn up, clamor, commotion, conturbation,
convulse, convulsion, disarrange, discompose, discomposure,
disorder, disquiet, disquietude, disturb, disturbance, dudgeon,
ebullience, ebulliency, ebullition, eddy, effervesce,
effervescence, effervescency, electrolysis, electrolyze,
embroilment, enzyme, excite, excitement, fan, fan the flame,
fanaticism, feed the fire, feery-fary, fermentation, fever,
feverishness, fidgetiness, fidgets, fire, fit, fizz, fizzle, flap,
flurry, fluster, flutter, flutteration, flutteriness, foam,
foaming, foment, fomentation, foofaraw, frenzy, fret, froth,
frothiness, frothing, fume, furor, furore, fury, fuss, fussiness,
guggle, gurgle, heat, heat up, high dudgeon, hiss, homopolymerize,
hubbub, huff, hullabaloo, hurly-burly, hurry, hurry-scurry,
hydrate, hydrogenate, hydrogenation, hydroxylate, impassion,
incense, incite, inflame, innovationist, innovator, inquietude,
instigate, introducer, isomerism, isomerize, jitters, jumpiness,
leaven, leavening, maelstrom, malaise, metamerism, metamerization,
miff, modificator, modifier, moil, mother, nerviness, nervosity,
nervousness, nettle, nitrate, nitration, outcry, oxidation,
oxidization, oxidize, paddle, pandemonium, passion, pell-mell,
pepsin, pepsinate, peroxidize, perturb, perturbate, perturbation,
pet, phosphatization, phosphatize, pique, plop, polymerism,
polymerization, polymerize, position isomerism, pother, precursor,
provoke, put up to, racket, rage, raise, rally, reduce, reduction,
restiveness, restlessness, rile, ripple, rise, roil, roughen,
rouse, rout, row, ruckus, ruffle, rumple, rumpus, saturization,
scramble, seethe, seething, set on, shake, shake up, sic on,
simmer, smolder, soda, sour, sparkle, spasm, spumescence, spurt,
stew, stir, stir the embers, stir up, storminess, sulfate,
sulfatize, sulfonate, sweat, swirl, swirling, tempestuousness,
tickle, tiff, to-do, transformer, transmogrifier, trepidation,
trepidity, trouble, tumult, tumultuation, tumultuousness,
turbidity, turbulence, turmoil, turn sour, twitter, unease,
unquiet, unrest, upheaval, uproar, upset, upturn, vinegar, vortex,
whet, whip, whip up, whirl, whisk, wildness, work, work up,
working, yeast, yeastiness, zeal, zealousness
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