How to Use ferment in a Sentence

ferment

1 of 2 verb
  • Yeast ferments the sugar in the juice.
  • The wine ferments in oak barrels.
  • To make up for some of the lost wine, why not ferment some pears?
    — Esther Mobley, SFChronicle.com, 19 Nov. 2020
  • Red wine is fermented with the skins and seeds of the grapes.
    — Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Aug. 2022
  • My decision to ferment just the oats and nuts was a good one.
    — Rita Nader Heikenfeld, The Enquirer, 8 Oct. 2022
  • It is made by fermenting beets with water and salt.
    — Lindsey Desoto, Health, 12 Jan. 2026
  • The crunchy slices are lightly fermented for a gut-health boost.
    — Katlyn Moncada, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Apr. 2026
  • The dough, made with flour from Italy, is fermented for forty-eight hours.
    — Hannah Goldfield, The New Yorker, 17 Feb. 2023
  • Hygiene is key when fermenting foods at home.
    — Brittany Lubeck, Verywell Health, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Hygiene is key when fermenting foods at home.
    — Brittany Lubeck, Verywell Health, 15 Jan. 2026
  • It can be consumed raw, cooked or fermented.
    — Leeann Weintraub, Daily News, 15 Apr. 2026
  • That is, not all pickles are fermented.
    — Riley Wofford, Martha Stewart, 23 Feb. 2026
  • This means white wine grapes are left to ferment with their skins, similar to the way red wine is made.
    — Tirion Morris, The Arizona Republic, 8 Oct. 2020
  • Do fermented foods have any health hazards?
    — Caroline Tien, SELF, 10 Dec. 2025
  • Coconut aminos is a dark brown sauce made by fermenting coconut palm sap.
    — Merve Ceylan, Health, 26 Sep. 2025
  • After drying for a few weeks for up to six months, the grapes are dried and fermented.
    — Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 29 Dec. 2023
  • Some pickles are fermented, but there are two ways to make pickles.
    — Cynthia Sass, Mph, Health, 15 Feb. 2024
  • The grapes are pressed and sealed in containers to ferment, just like any other wine.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 8 June 2022
  • Wild beers and some sours utilize unpredictable yeast that takes longer to ferment.
    — Claire Porter, Popular Mechanics, 25 May 2021
  • It is often fermented with fruit to add flavor.
    — Isabel Vasquez Rd Ldn, Health, 1 Oct. 2025
  • It is often fermented with fruit to add flavor.
    — Isabel Vasquez Rd Ldn, Health, 15 May 2026
  • Kefir is made by fermenting milk with kefir grains.
    — Merve Ceylan, Health, 15 May 2026
  • The pulpy white beans are stacked under plantain leaves to ferment for a week before they are dried in the sun.
    — Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2023
  • Allow this mixture to ferment for up to five days until the seeds sink to the bottom.
    — oregonlive, 4 Oct. 2021
  • No oyster sauce, or fermented black bean sauce either.
    — Alaina Chou, Bon Appetit Magazine, 8 Sep. 2025
  • There is also usually an acid or fermenting agent such as mold or yeast.
    — Katlyn Moncada, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 June 2026
  • The yeast in these foods can ferment in a pet’s warm stomach and produce toxic levels of ethanol.
    — Leticia Fanucchi, Discover Magazine, 29 Dec. 2022
  • The yeast in these foods can ferment in a pet's warm stomach and produce toxic levels of ethanol.
    — Leticia Fanucchi, CBS News, 17 Dec. 2022
  • It’s made by fermenting skim milk with live cultures and straining out most of the liquid whey.
    — Brandi Jones, Verywell Health, 26 Feb. 2026
  • Romana bills its dough as made fresh every day and then fermented for 72 hours.
    — John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 29 Jan. 2024

ferment

2 of 2 noun
  • The city was in a state of ferment after the election.
  • The jar was then sealed and tucked into an ant mound to ferment overnight.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2025
  • That is yeast in the air that allows your bread to ferment, rise and fall.
    — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9 Apr. 2020
  • As the kombucha ferments, a thin skin of liquid forms on the top.
    — Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 16 Feb. 2026
  • Empty days of blinding white heat gave way to nights of blood and ferment.
    — Aatish Taseer, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2023
  • And the truth is, at that time at least, during my own time of ferment, things were more open.
    — Christopher Borrelli, chicagotribune.com, 12 July 2021
  • This is then mixed with water and left to ferment, sometimes as long as two weeks.
    — Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 8 Nov. 2019
  • Marta has some skin contact in the press and ferments in stainless steel.
    — Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
  • The blocks are dried and tied with rice straw, and left to ferment naturally.
    — Andrea Strong, Bon Appetit Magazine, 8 May 2026
  • The pulp and liquid are necessary to help the seeds ferment over the next few days.
    — Heather Bien, Southern Living, 8 Sep. 2025
  • The leaves are formed into solid cakes that ferment for months, and sometimes years.
    — Laura Kiniry, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Feb. 2022
  • This needs to be mixed with water and yeast, and then left to ferment, which can lead to some timing issues.
    — Nick Kindelsperger, chicagotribune.com, 1 Sep. 2021
  • But that micro-ferment can take a winemaker a week or more to complete.
    — Esther Mobley, SFChronicle.com, 23 Sep. 2020
  • Human ideas about hell were still in ferment as the Bible was being written.
    — al, 16 Apr. 2022
  • Let the kosho ferment in the refrigerator for five to ten days.
    — Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2020
  • The hearts, which each produce about one bottle, are then mashed and left to ferment for several more days.
    — Tom Benning, Dallas News, 29 Jan. 2020
  • Instead of water, the flour for these breads is mixed with yogurt, then left outside for a whole day to ferment.
    — New York Times, 29 Oct. 2019
  • Sour and garlicky, it's usually made from pork, sticky rice and garlic, then hung up to ferment and dry.
    — Kate Springer, CNN, 22 Aug. 2022
  • The finish leans a bit tacky for my taste and there is a faint yeasty scent (probably due to the marine ferment).
    — Venus Wong, Refinery29, 14 Aug. 2025
  • The mixture is then left to ferment at room temperature.
    — Lindsey Desoto, Health, 12 Jan. 2026
  • And that effort is spread over three days of patient waiting as the dough slowly ferments and raises.
    — Paul Stephen, ExpressNews.com, 13 May 2020
  • Set the cabbage on a surface that doesn’t receive direct sunlight and leave it alone to ferment.
    — Paul Stephen, ExpressNews.com, 4 Mar. 2020
  • The first bulk ferment, the long one is really for kind of flavor, honestly.
    — Emily Elias, Bon Appetit Magazine, 18 Feb. 2026
  • The impacts won't truly be felt until the coming seasons, since the grapes take time to ferment.
    — Ashley Paul, CBS News, 22 Apr. 2026
  • Off in the corners, though, there’s a lot of intellectual ferment on the right.
    — David Brooks, Star Tribune, 10 Aug. 2020
  • Trump may be gone, but the populist ferment across the political spectrum that helped drive his rise is still with us.
    — James Pogue, The New Republic, 3 Feb. 2021
  • Their brioche dough is takes a full 24 hours to ferment and is made with fresh yeast, butter, and real vanilla bean.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 4 June 2021
  • Grapes are getting ripe, crews are picking them off the vines, and all that juice inside the tanks is beginning to ferment.
    — Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Aug. 2022
  • These were times of political ferment.
    — Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 May 2026
  • The road ahead is still a long one, though, as can be seen from the manifest ferment in the industrial sector.
    — Fabio Moioli, Forbes, 10 June 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ferment.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: