festoon
verbEtymology Borrowed from French feston.
1
To decorate as if with ornaments, such as garlands or chains, which hang loosely from two tacked spots.
- The tree trunks and the creepers that festooned them lost themselves in a green dusk thirty feet above him, and all about was the undergrowth.1954, William Golding, chapter 3, in Lord of the Flies, →ISBN, page 48:
2
To make festoons.
3
To decorate or bedeck abundantly.
- He was bewildered by how the car was festooned with polka dots.
- A mysterious woman who shows up at a funeral more droopily festooned in black than the widow is making what is known as a fashion statement.2005, Judith Martin, Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Norton, page 804:
4 more examples
- Some teachers festoon every spare inch of wall with vocabulary choices or maths techniques to use, which look great at first, but to some children might appear quite daunting. You'll probably see unfamiliar acronyms such as Walt (We Are Learning To). Be sure to ask what they stand for and how they are used in practice.2014 September 23, “Choosing a primary school: a teacher's guide for parents”, in The Guardian:
- Most mistletoes are "hemiparasites." This means they don't rely on their hosts for all their needs: Instead, they harvest the sun's energy to make some sugars for themselves. Nonetheless, if you're a tree, you don't want to be festooned with them. Two or three shouldn't be a problem, but dozens of mistletoes can lead to water stress, insect infestation or even death.2014 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25 December 2014, p. 7]”, in The New York Times:
- The room into which Lieutenant Said led Cora was obviously the debriefing room of a lab complex. Schematics models, handwritten papers, and extra haptic terminals festooned the walls, and the circular table had a built-in holo projector.2017 November, N. K. Jemisin, Mac Walters, chapter 10, in Mass Effect Andromeda: Initiation, 1st edition (Science Fiction), Titan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 179:
- Many seats carry reservation labels, while the luggage racks are festooned with backpacks and suitcases.2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 77: