Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To overfill or overcrowd.
  • intransitive verb Medicine To cause the accumulation of excessive blood or tissue fluid in (a vessel or organ).
  • intransitive verb To become congested.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To collect or gather into a mass or aggregate; heap together. See congested.
  • In medicine, to cause an unnatural accumulation of blood in: as, the lungs may be congested by cold.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To collect or gather into a mass or aggregate; to bring together; to accumulate.
  • transitive verb (Med.) To cause an overfullness of the blood vessels (esp. the capillaries) of an organ or part.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun In Ireland and Scotland, a tenant living on land whose resources do not support him adequately.
  • verb To overfill or overcrowd.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb become or cause to become obstructed

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin congerere, congest-, to heap up, crowd together : com-, com- + gerere, to carry.]

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Examples

  • Energy Transfer and Williams are fiercely competing to expand their natural-gas-distribution business at a time when vast new supplies of natural gas from rock deposits called shale are threatening to congest existing pipeline routes.

    Energy Transfer, Southern Set Deal Angel Gonzalez 2011

  • Williams and Energy Transfer both hope to expand their natural gas distribution amid a shifting supply dynamic that threaten to congest existing pipeline routes; the victorious suitor will emerge as the largest U.S. natural gas pipeline company.

    Williams Makes a Bid for Southern Union Ben Lefebvre 2011

  • I had no right to be in the UK, to congest their transport and parks, to place additional demand on the housing stock, and so forth.

    Wonk Room » Nativist Mark Krikorian Warns That ‘Saddam Hussein’s BFFs Are Coming To Town Near You’ 2009

  • They (adminstration) have to check and make sure the nominee for a postion hasn't done anything more harmful than jay walking in their entire life or ........ the American public will hear about it for at least 7 days 24/7 by pundits, newscasters, and the other idiots allowed to congest our airways.

    Clinton: Vetting process for administration jobs 'a nightmare' 2009

  • The Detroit-based auto maker's monthly sales record comes after its China sales expanded 28.8% last year to an annual record of 2.35 million units, and despite market concerns that Chinese demand for autos would decline after the government withdrew some of its incentives to support auto purchases at the end of last year and Beijing introduced restrictions on such purchases to ease traffic congest ion.

    GM Posts China Sales Record for January 2011

  • God forbid they aren't given the opportunity to congest the local emergency room when they get a cold or a cough.

    Landrieu to support health care reform bill 2009

  • A new CD from the Glor Classics label succeeds with beefy, close-up miking of the EuropaChorAkademie and the Youth Orchestra of the Americas that reveals detail but doesn't congest in the big moments.

    New CDs of Verdi's Requiem Mass: Some powerful, others not up to the task 2010

  • GUATEMALA CITY - Between the black smoke-belching chicken buses and the mass of cars that congest the streets of Central America's largest capital, it's hard to imagine a bicycle, much less a mass of them.

    Tracy L. Barnett: Critical Mass Takes to the Streets in Guatemala City 2010

  • This will only serve to congest and gridlock the streets.

    Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Wednesday 2010

  • Corp. Continental and United Friday said they expect the lease of the slots at congest Newark will have "minimal impact" on their proposed combined route network.

    Southwest Gets Newark Slots 2010

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