Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - infest

(infests, infesting, infested) 1. When creatures such as insects or rats infest plants or a place, they are present in large numbers and cause damage. ...pests like aphids which infest cereal crops. VERB: V n • infested The prison is infested with rats... ADJ: oft ADJ with n • -infested ...the rat-infested slums where the plague flourished. COMB in ADJ • infestation (infestations) The premises were treated for cockroach infestation... N-VAR: oft n N, N of n 2. If you say that people or things you disapprove of or regard as dangerous are infesting a place, you mean that there are large numbers of them in that place. Crime and drugs are infesting the inner cities. = overrun VERB: V n c darkgreen]disapproval • infested The road further south was infested with bandits. ADJ • -infested ...the shark-infested waters of the Great Barrier Reef. COMB in ADJ