corrode
Americanverb (used with object)
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to eat or wear away gradually as if by gnawing, especially by chemical action.
-
to impair; deteriorate.
Jealousy corroded his character.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to eat away or be eaten away, esp by chemical action as in the oxidation or rusting of a metal
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(tr) to destroy gradually; consume
his jealousy corroded his happiness
Other Word Forms
- corrodant noun
- corrodent noun
- corroder noun
- corrodibility noun
- corrodible adjective
- noncorrodible adjective
- noncorroding adjective
- uncorroded adjective
Etymology
Origin of corrode
1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French ) < Latin corrōdere to gnaw to pieces, equivalent to cor- cor- + rōdere to gnaw; akin to rodent
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They worry the practice could mislead voters and corrode trust in nonpartisan news providers.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2026
Committee chair Matt Western warned mishandling similar future cases will "corrode public trust".
From BBC • Dec. 2, 2025
I think that from the time he was a boy, and I think that over time, those secrets start to corrode a person.
From Salon • Sep. 22, 2024
Sowing hopelessness and fear is the fastest way to corrode trust.
From Slate • Jul. 31, 2024
Fortunately, as Marilyn Frye has noted, every birdcage has a door, and every birdcage can be broken and can corrode.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
