Inflected forms: pes·tered, pes·ter·ing, pes·ters To harass with petty annoyances; bother. See synonyms at harass.
ETYMOLOGY:
Probably short for French empestrer, to constrain, embarrass (probably also influenced by pest), from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *impstrire : Latin in-, in; see in–2 + Vulgar Latin *pstria, a hobble, from Latin, feminine of pstrius, of a herdsman (from pstor, herdsman; see p- in Appendix I).
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