fatten
/'fætn/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Verb (transitive):
- To cause an animal or person to gain weight, typically by providing abundant food, often with the specific purpose of preparing the animal for slaughter or improving its condition.
- To make something fuller, richer, or more substantial.
Verb (intransitive):
- To become fat or gain weight.
Usage and Examples
- Transitive Verb:
- Farmers fatten their pigs for several months before selling them.
- The chef used butter and cream to fatten the sauce.
- Intransitive Verb:
- The cattle fatten quickly on this rich pasture.
Advanced Usage
- "fatten up": A common phrasal verb emphasizing the process of making someone or something gain weight, often for a specific purpose.
- They are trying to fatten up the turkey for Thanksgiving.
- After his illness, his grandmother was determined to fatten him up.
Variants and Related Words
- Fat (adj/n): Having a large amount of excess flesh; the oily or greasy substance in animal bodies.
- Fatty (adj): Containing a lot of fat.
- Fattening (adj): (Of food) likely to make a person gain weight.
- Cake and ice cream are very fattening foods.
Synonyms
- Plump up: To make something rounder or fuller.
- Flesh out: To add more details or substance to something (often used for ideas or writing, not for physical weight).
- Feed up: To give extra food to improve health or condition.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Fatten up: To make a person or animal fatter by feeding them more.
- The rescue center's goal is to fatten up the undernourished seal pups before releasing them.
Related Idioms
- To fatten the calf: An idiom alluding to the biblical story of the Prodigal Son, meaning to prepare a special celebration or treat.
- When their son returned from overseas, they killed the fatted calf. (Note: The common idiom uses "fatted," the archaic past participle of "fatten.")
Verb
- make fat or plump
- We will plump out that poor starving child