If a wound festers, it becomes infected, making it worse. The wound is festering, and gangrene has set in Many of the children are afflicted by festering sores
disapproval If you say that a situation, problem, or feeling is festering, you disapprove of the fact that it is being allowed to grow more unpleasant or full of anger, because it is not being properly recognized or dealt with. Resentments are starting to fester. festering wounds of the legacy of British imperialism
To generate pus; to become imflamed and suppurate; as, a sore or a wound festers