erode

[ih-rohd]

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. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for erodible

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 for erode

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

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.

erodible in Medicine

erode

[ĭ-rōd′]

v.

To wear away by or as if by abrasion.

To eat into; ulcerate.