corrode

[kuh-rohd]

verb (used with object)

corroded, corroding 

1. to eat or wear away gradually as if by gnawing, especially by chemical action.

2. to impair; deteriorate.

   Jealousy corroded his character.

verb (used without object)

corroded, corroding 

1. to become corroded.

corrode

/ kəˈrəʊd /

verb

1. to eat away or be eaten away, esp by chemical action as in the oxidation or rusting of a metal

2. (tr) to destroy gradually; consume

   his jealousy corroded his happiness

Other Word Forms

• corrodent noun
• corroder noun
• corrodible adjective
• corrodibility noun
• noncorrodible adjective
• noncorroding adjective
• uncorroded adjective
• corrodant noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of corrode¹

1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French ) < Latin corrōdere to gnaw to pieces, equivalent to cor- cor- + rōdere to gnaw; akin to rodent

Word History and Origins

Origin of corrode¹

C14: from Latin corrōdere to gnaw to pieces, from rōdere to gnaw; see _rodent , _rat

Example Sentences

I learned that leaving the knife wet corrodes it.

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My motor skills feel corroded, like the entire world is sitting at an angle.

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But then a pre-raising inspection of the sunken vessel revealed that most of the nails in the planks inside the ship had corroded during the more than four hundred years it had been submerged.

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The salt in seawater also corrodes metal and destroys electrical connectors.

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The more we grasp how Trumpism corrodes thought, the better equipped we are to defend it — because the fight for democracy always begins in the mind.

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Related Words

• deteriorate 
• erode 
• impair 
• rot 
• rust