erode

[ih-rohd]

See more synonyms for erode on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), e·rod·ed, e·rod·ing.

to eat into or away; destroy by slow consumption or disintegration: Battery acid had eroded the engine. Inflation erodes the value of our money.
to form (a gully, butte, or the like) by erosion.

verb (used without object), e·rod·ed, e·rod·ing.

to become eroded.

Origin of erode

1605–15; < Latin ērōdere, equivalent to ē- e-¹ + rōdere to gnaw

Related formse·rod·i·ble, e·rod·a·ble, e·ro·si·ble

[ih-roh-zuh-buh l, -suh-] /ɪˈroʊ zə bəl, -sə-/, adjectivee·rod·i·bil·i·ty, e·rod·a·bil·i·ty, nounnon·e·rod·ed, adjectivenon·e·rod·ing, adjectiveun·e·rod·a·ble, adjectiveun·e·rod·ed, adjectiveun·e·rod·i·ble, adjectiveun·e·rod·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for erode

Contemporary Examples

That started to erode after the two officers were assaulted last week.
De Blasio and the New York City Protesters Have No Blood on Their Hands
Jacob Siegel
December 22, 2014
It serves as a potent reminder that the cost in lives of one war can erode the will of a people to fight another.
Blood and War: The Hard Truth About ‘Boots on the Ground’
Clive Irving
September 22, 2014
Failure to secure their quick release can erode voter confidence and advertise the impotence of government.
Al Qaeda Growing Rich Off Ransom Payments
Jamie Dettmer
December 22, 2013
Admittedly, a lot of undeserved cultural authority will have to erode before this idealization can materialize.
5 Ways to Fix Book Publishing
Anis Shivani
July 12, 2013
Alternatively, passing up a shot could allow an enemy to escape, kill U.S. citizens, and erode U.S. power.
The Essential Spy Guide
Henry A. Crumpton
May 2, 2013

Historical Examples

This limit of the level of the sea beneath which they cannot erode is known as baselevel.
The Elements of Geology
William Harmon Norton
Secure in its grip, these are used as graving-tools to erode its bed.
The Home of the Blizzard
Douglas Mawson
There has not been time to erode them away since the Pleistocene glaciation.
Climatic Changes
Ellsworth Huntington
It has been, and is being, created by sediments from the many torrents that erode the interior mountains.
Area Handbook for Albania
Eugene K. Keefe
To erode a stratum 5000 feet thick will require at this rate thirty million years.
Pioneers of Science
Oliver Lodge

British Dictionary definitions for erode

erode

verb

to grind or wear down or away or become ground or worn down or away
to deteriorate or cause to deterioratejealousy eroded the relationship
(tr; usually passive) pathol to remove (tissue) by ulceration

Derived Formserodent, adjective, nounerodible, adjective

Word Origin

C17: from Latin ērōdere, from ex- 1 + rōdere to gnaw

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for erode

v.

1610s, a back-formation from erosion, or else from French éroder, from Latin erodere "to gnaw away, consume" (see erosion). Related: Eroded; eroding. Originally of acids, ulcers, etc.; geological sense is from 1830.

erode in Medicine

erode

(ĭ-rōd′)

To wear away by or as if by abrasion.
To eat into; ulcerate.

erode

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Examples from the Web for erode

Contemporary Examples

That started to erode after the two officers were assaulted last week.

It serves as a potent reminder that the cost in lives of one war can erode the will of a people to fight another.

Failure to secure their quick release can erode voter confidence and advertise the impotence of government.

Admittedly, a lot of undeserved cultural authority will have to erode before this idealization can materialize.

Alternatively, passing up a shot could allow an enemy to escape, kill U.S. citizens, and erode U.S. power.

Historical Examples

This limit of the level of the sea beneath which they cannot erode is known as baselevel.

Secure in its grip, these are used as graving-tools to erode its bed.

There has not been time to erode them away since the Pleistocene glaciation.

It has been, and is being, created by sediments from the many torrents that erode the interior mountains.

To erode a stratum 5000 feet thick will require at this rate thirty million years.

erode

Word Origin

Word Origin and History for erode

v.

erode

Origin of erode