pestare

Pestare is an Italian verb with several related senses. In its core meaning, pestare denotes to strike, beat, or hit someone or something, often with a hand, a weapon, or another object. It can also mean to trample or stamp down on a surface or object, as when one steps heavily to clear a path or express anger.

A secondary sense covers pounding or grinding ingredients in a mortar and pestle, for example pestare pepe or i chicchi nel mortaio. In culinary contexts it expresses the action of crushing solids into a paste or powder. The verb is transitive and typically used with avere as the auxiliary in compound tenses.

As a regular -are verb, pestare follows the standard conjugation pattern in the present tense, and its past participle is pestato, used with avere to form perfect tenses. The exact forms adapt to person and number just like other -are verbs.

Pestare is used in both literary and everyday Italian, with nuance depending on context. It is often supplanted by more precise verbs such as battere for violence or calpestare for trampling. In culinary language it sits alongside terms referring to crushing or grinding with a pestle.

See also: calpestare, pestello, mortaio.