erode
Americanverb (used with object)
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erodes,
present (3rd person singular)
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eroded,
past participle, past
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eroding
present participle
verb (used without object)
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erodes,
present (3rd person singular)
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eroded,
past participle, past
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eroding
present participle
verb
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to grind or wear down or away or become ground or worn down or away
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to deteriorate or cause to deteriorate
jealousy eroded the relationship
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(tr; usually passive) pathol to remove (tissue) by ulceration
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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erodabilitynoun
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erodibilitynoun
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erodableadjective
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erodentadjective
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erodibleadjective
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erosibleadjective
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nonerodedadjective
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nonerodingadjective
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unerodableadjective
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unerodedadjective
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unerodibleadjective
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unerodingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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erodesimple
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erodessimple
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have erodedperfect
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has erodedperfect
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am erodingprogressive
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are erodingprogressive
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is erodingprogressive
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have been erodingperfect progressive
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has been erodingperfect progressive
Past
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erodedsimple
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had erodedperfect
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was erodingprogressive
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were erodingprogressive
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had been erodingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing erode
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "E"
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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.
See Examples For:
But studies show AI text detectors are often unreliable, generating false positives that can erode trust between instructors and students and forcing teachers to devise innovative methods to detect cheating and evaluate assignments.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
Women's Aid chief executive Farah Nazeer meanwhile said the scheme could further erode "incredibly low" trust in the criminal justice system, meaning "even greater numbers of women and children may be left without protection".
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
“Root systems protect Lake Tahoe’s clarity by stabilizing soils that could erode, and uptaking nutrients that would feed algae in the lake,” Cowen wrote in an email.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
Make sure there’s an inflation rider — inflation over 30 years could erode the value of your policy if you don’t have one in place — and that the policy covers dementia.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
The doors of the Great Hall loomed up in front of him; new-made, to replace the doors that burned, they seemed erode and ugly to him, raw planks hastily joined.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
He characterized AI capabilities as statistical computations and warned that assigning consciousness to AI erodes human dignity.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
She wrote a series of articles about the problem of loneliness among older people, which she described as "a creeping enemy which erodes confidence."
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
One is mechanical stress, in which repeated contact with water droplets creates friction that slowly erodes a coating or causes pieces of it to peel away.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
The county said it all “further erodes confidence” in the district’s budgeting abilities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
But the liquid from within bounced on the still water like a violent rainstorm that erodes the land.
From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis
In Malibu, an enormous sink hole emerged in the driveway of a home belonging to Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage when pounding waves from a nearby hurricane eroded the coastline.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
She said restructurings were necessary as companies adapt to changing consumption patterns, which have eroded the more lucrative TV economics of yesteryear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Already this year, multiple counties and towns have declared local emergencies as a spell of powerful tropical storms from the Pacific generated high surf that eroded local beaches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
A more-prolonged shutdown would have eroded investors’ faith in the markets, officials worried at the time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
There was just a sea of ugly stumps and barren, eroded dirt.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
Muddling along would come at an economic cost, with the rising cost of repaying debt eroding the government’s room for more productive investments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
The proposals triggered an outcry across many parts of the criminal justice world, with many opponents saying that eroding the 800-year-old right to trial by jury would not solve the backlogs.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Kyl was single-handedly responsible for forcing the government to upgrade the eroding U.S. nuclear arsenal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Communities have seen waves pound the coastline, eroding the shore and putting homes and infrastructure at risk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
They have gone through this cycle at least twice, possibly more—rising to awesome heights, eroding away to nothingness, rising again, each time recycling their component materials in a dazzlingly confused and complex geology.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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.
