corrode
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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
-
(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.
Filming in a constricting boxy aspect ratio, the Ukrainian director takes us inside a corroding prison filled with men unjustly incarcerated as enemies of the state.
From Los Angeles Times
The infrastructure is part of an offshore oil operation that had been closed since 2015, when a corroded section of one of the pipelines burst and caused one of the state’s worst oil spills.
From Los Angeles Times
The network had been shuttered since 2015, when a corroded pipe burst and caused one of the state’s worst oil spills.
From Los Angeles Times
In columns and on TV, he warns that Hegseth’s cavalier attitude toward the rule of law and civilian protections is corroding military professionalism.
From Salon
That pipeline, which Sable says it has fully repaired, was found to be severely corroded.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
