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erode

[ih-rohd]
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verb (used with object), e·rod·ed, e·rod·ing.
  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.
  2. to form (a gully, butte, or the like) by erosion.
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verb (used without object), e·rod·ed, e·rod·ing.
  1. to become eroded.
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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
British Dictionary definitions for erodible

erode

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

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
erodible in Medicine

erode

(ĭ-rōd′)
v.
  1. To wear away by or as if by abrasion.
  2. To eat into; ulcerate.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.