corrode
UK /kəˈɹəʊd/ · US /kəˈɹoʊd/ verb
Forms corrodes corroding corroded
- verb (transitive) To eat away bit by bit; to wear away or diminish by gradually separating or destroying small particles of, as by action of a strong acid or a caustic alkali.
- verb (transitive) To consume; to wear away; to prey upon; to impair. “My morale is being corroded day by day.”
- verb (intransitive) To have corrosive action; to be subject to corrosion.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English corrōden, that borrowed from Old French corroder or directly from Latin corrōdere (“to gnaw”), from con- (“completely”) + rōdere (“to gnaw”).
Webster’s 1913
- To eat away by degrees; to wear away or diminish by gradually separating or destroying small particles of, as by action of a strong acid or a caustic alkali.
- To consume; to wear away; to prey upon; to impair.
- verb To have corrosive action; to be subject to corrosion. Corroding lead, lead sufficiently pure to be used in making white lead by a process of corroding.
Etymology [L. corrodere, -rosum; cor + rodere to gnaw: cf. F. corroder. See Rodent.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “corrode”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details