Verb

(en verb)

To incite or cause troublesome acts; to encourage; to instigate.

He was arrested for fomenting a riot; after all, it's bad enough being in a riot but starting one is much worse.

(medicine) To apply a poultice to; to bathe with a cloth or sponge.

* 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Abbey Grange , Norton (2005), page 1178,

The maid had entered with us, and began once more to foment the bruise upon her mistress's brow.

Verb

To hold up; to lift on high; to elevate.

* '>citation

To keep erect; to support; to sustain; to keep from falling; to maintain.

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* {{quote-book

, year=1872 , year_published=2009 , edition=HTML , editor= , author=James De Mille , title=The Cryptogram , chapter= citation , genre= , publisher=The Gutenberg Project , isbn= , page= , passage=Uttering such broken ejaculations Mrs. Hart burst into a passion of tears, and only Lord Chetwynde's strong arms prevented her from falling. / He upheld her. }}

To support by approval or encouragement.

* 1748 . . Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 18:

but there was still a connexion upheld among the different ideas, which succeeded each other.