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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

Mass defections erode loyalty, expose human-rights abuses and signal internal instability.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

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

Indian mom-and-pop investors who put their money into the Nifty have seen their wealth erode by about 15% this year.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 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

The buildings looked substantial, unlikely ever to erode.

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

As a team, we believed that inspiration erodes apathy and yields empathy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 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

In concentrated markets, companies have every incentive to avoid competing aggressively because competition erodes margins.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 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 snow erodes, leaving the potholes in the roads near our house filled with muddy water.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

The deck replacement is necessary because traffic loads on the span have become increasingly heavy, and salt air has eroded bridge materials.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 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

"Storm surf generated by Hurricane Marie and runoff from a storm drain outfall eroded a large portion of the festival site," said a statement from the city of Santa Monica.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

This is especially true of those who have switched jobs—and who might feel especially put off if the pay gains they hustled for are later eroded by inflation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

Like my mountain, the tilled land eroded and grew stones, not crops, and the farms were abandoned.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

There are signs that that lead is eroding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Nomadic life is on the decline, and material gains in the larger cities—with better education and healthcare—are eroding interest in traditional ways.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 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

Already this year, multiple counties have declared local emergencies as a spell of powerful, tropical storms from the Pacific sent high surf to Southern California, eroding local beaches.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

Whatever was eroding inside my father, withering his muscles and stripping his nerves, he viewed it as his own private challenge, as something to silently withstand.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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Related Words

• corrode
• destroy

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