fermentation
fermentation — noun
1. The natural process by which yeasts and bacteria break down sugars inside food a
The natural process by which yeasts and bacteria break down sugars inside food and drink, creating alcohol, acids, or gas — the reaction that gives us bread, beer, wine, and yogurt.
Takeshi explained how fermentation turns plain cabbage into tangy kimchi.
pattern: fermentation + turns [ingredient] into [product]
Lucía watched the fermentation lock on her homemade wine bubble steadily.
collocation: fermentation lock (brewing equipment)
The long fermentation gave the sourdough bread its deep, complex flavour.
Without fermentation, there would be no yogurt, cheese, beer, or soy sauce.
Nikhil checked the jar each morning to see how the fermentation was progressing.
- pasteurisation
the process of heating to kill microbes — the opposite of encouraging them
2. A period of intense excitement, disagreement, or rapid change within a group or
A period of intense excitement, disagreement, or rapid change within a group or society — the kind of restless energy that can lead to new ideas or conflict.
A period of political fermentation swept through the capital after the election.
collocation: political fermentation
The university was in a state of intellectual fermentation during the 1960s.
collocation: intellectual fermentation
Amani sensed a quiet fermentation among the workers that worried the managers.
Out of that creative fermentation came three novels that changed American literature.
Years of social fermentation finally erupted in the protests of that spring.
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1 (FOOD AND DRINK): this figurative sense is always uncountable and describes social, political, or creative unrest, never a physical process.