erode

American  

[ih-rohd] / ɪˈroʊd /

verb (used with object)

• erodes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• eroded,
  past participle,  past
• eroding
  present participle

1. to eat into or away; destroy by slow consumption or disintegration.

   Battery acid had eroded the engine. Inflation erodes the value of our money.

   Synonyms:

   spoil, ravage, waste, corrode

   Antonyms:

   reinforce, strengthen

2. to form (a gully, butte, or the like) by erosion.

---

verb (used without object)

• erodes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• eroded,
  past participle,  past
• eroding
  present participle

1. to become eroded.

erode British  

/ ɪˈrəʊd /

verb

1. to grind or wear down or away or become ground or worn down or away

2. to deteriorate or cause to deteriorate

   jealousy eroded the relationship

3. (tr; usually passive) pathol to remove (tissue) by ulceration

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• erodability
  noun
• erodibility
  noun
• erodable
  adjective
• erodent
  adjective
• erodible
  adjective
• erosible
  adjective
• noneroded
  adjective
• noneroding
  adjective
• unerodable
  adjective
• uneroded
  adjective
• unerodible
  adjective
• uneroding
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• eroding
  present
• eroded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• erode
  simple
• erodes
  simple
• have eroded
  perfect
• has eroded
  perfect
• am eroding
  progressive
• are eroding
  progressive
• is eroding
  progressive
• have been eroding
  perfect progressive
• has been eroding
  perfect progressive

Past

• eroded
  simple
• had eroded
  perfect
• was eroding
  progressive
• were eroding
  progressive
• had been eroding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will erode
  simple
• will have eroded
  perfect
• will be eroding
  progressive
• will have been eroding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of erode

First recorded in 1605–15; from French ė́roder or directly from Latin ērōdere, equivalent to ē- “out of, from” + rōdere “to gnaw”; see e- ¹

Explanation

When soil or land erodes, it wears away or is removed. Many beaches seem to get smaller and smaller, as the endless wash of the waves begins to erode the fine sand. While erode is most commonly used when describing land loss, you can also use it in less literal ways. Numerous hospital bills can cause your savings to erode. Each time you catch your friend in a lie, your trust in her erodes a little more. Consumer confidence is eroding away as the media reports more and more bad economic news. What’s key here is both the sense of loss, as well as the idea that it is a gradual process.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

erode erodes eroded eroding

He added: "Our work suggests that tectonic uplift related to continental rifting and breakup created both steep slopes and high ground, providing the mountainous terrain that rivers and glaciers could readily erode."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

In his first public comments on the transaction, Ellison rejected claims that a combined media giant would exert excessive control over the market or erode newsroom independence.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

"These AI-generated fakes, growing more common, may also erode public trust in satellite imagery, and make the jobs of journalists and researchers more difficult."

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

Because of how these products are designed, investors who hold them for longer than a day take the risk that “volatility decay” may erode some or all of their winnings, Sotiroff said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

Through him you would meet someone else you liked a lot better and gradually your friendship with the first person would erode, then vanish into aggrieved memory.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

"Improved public services and better learning outcomes in schools will reinforce trust -- but if AI embeds bias in government decisions or erodes data privacy, that trust will be difficult to recover," said the statement.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

They tell clients that consumer pressures remain centered on cost-of-living and inflation pressures, which erodes their confidence in implant demand.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

But such heavy commercial appeal erodes all that singularity, leaving queer people to fend for themselves in defining and celebrating their identities, apart from the pinkwashing.

From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026

But any insider trading on prediction markets erodes trust in the platforms and causes traders to question the market’s integrity.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

As the icebergs drift, the seawater erodes them from below, until the berg abruptly topples over and continues its journey upside down.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

But offshore internet betting, and the exception enjoyed by fantasy leagues, eroded the principles of sports impresarios.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

The social contract forged by the Revolution, he said, "has eroded" in recent years.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

Freshly eroded fragments make the coastal ocean cloudy, while dissolved organic carbon can darken the water.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli re-established the comfortable championship lead that had been eroded in the past three races with victory in the Belgian Grand Prix while team-mate George Russell crashed out.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Even the wilderness is carefully husbanded there, and though that forest had been logged for centuries there were no waste places in it, no desolations of stumps, no eroded slopes.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Now they fear China is eroding that spirit in Hong Kong too.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Major arteries for trade and agriculture across the continent—including the Rhine, Danube and Po—are now at record low levels, disrupting freight transportation, forcing nuclear power plants to shut reactors and eroding agricultural productivity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Media observers say the public anger reflected years of eroding confidence.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

This misperception carries profound consequences and is currently rippling through our world, eroding trust, deepening isolation and creating a social environment in which empathy is swiftly becoming an atrophied muscle in desperate need of exercise.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

“The Empire State Building isn’t eroding anytime soon.”

From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Related Words

• corrode
• destroy