foment
foh-MENTverbMeaning to stir up trouble or unrest
Memory hook FOAM-ENT: stir till trouble FOAMS over. Victor stirs his pot of gossip faster and faster, adding a pinch of rumor here and a dash of grumbling there, until it foams over. He foments trouble.
Rumors on the school bus fomented a feud between the two grades.
In context The sly first mate spent weeks fomenting unrest among the crew, grumbling about the food and the pay until the sailors were ready to mutiny.
Similar stir up, whip up, incite, provoke
Opposite quell, calm, suppress
From Latin fomentum, “a warm compress,” from fovere, “to warm.” To foment was first to warm a sore; later, to heat up trouble.