rot
verb (used without object)
to undergo decomposition; decay.
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rot
1 American
[rot]
/ rɒt /
verb (used without object)
rots,
present (3rd person singular)
rotted,
past participle, past
rotting
present participle
verb (used with object)
rots,
present (3rd person singular)
rotted,
past participle, past
rotting
present participle
-
to cause to rot.
Dampness rots wood.
-
to cause moral decay in; cause to become morally corrupt.
- Antonyms:
- purify
-
to ret (flax, hemp, etc.).
noun
rots
plural
-
the process of rotting.
-
the state of being rotten; decay; putrefaction.
the rot of an old house.
- Synonyms:
- mold, decomposition
-
rotting or rotten matter.
the rot and waste of a swamp.
-
moral or social decay or corruption.
-
Pathology. any disease characterized by decay.
-
Plant Pathology.
-
any of various forms of decay produced by fungi or bacteria.
-
any disease so characterized.
-
-
Veterinary Pathology. a bacterial infection of sheep and cattle characterized by decay of the hoofs, caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum in cattle and Bacteroides nodosus in sheep.
interjection
ROT
2
American
rot.
3
American
abbreviation
-
rotating.
-
rotation.
rot
1
British
abbreviation
rot
2
British
/ rɒt /
verb
-
to decay or cause to decay as a result of bacterial or fungal action
-
(intr; usually foll by off or away) to fall or crumble (off) or break (away), as from natural decay, corrosive action, or long use
-
(intr) to become weak, debilitated, or depressed through inertia, confinement, etc; languish
rotting in prison
-
to become or cause to become morally corrupt or degenerate
-
(tr) textiles another word for ret
noun
-
the process of rotting or the state of being rotten
-
something decomposed, disintegrated, or degenerate
-
short for dry rot
-
pathol any putrefactive decomposition of tissues
-
a condition in plants characterized by breakdown and decay of tissues, caused by bacteria, fungi, etc
-
vet science a contagious fungal disease of the feet of sheep characterized by inflammation, swelling, a foul-smelling discharge, and lameness
-
(also interjection) nonsense; rubbish
rot
Scientific
/ rŏt /
Synonym Usage
See decay.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
rotsimple
-
rotssimple
-
have rottedperfect
-
has rottedperfect
-
am rottingprogressive
-
are rottingprogressive
-
is rottingprogressive
-
have been rottingperfect progressive
-
has been rottingperfect progressive
Past
-
rottedsimple
-
had rottedperfect
-
was rottingprogressive
-
were rottingprogressive
-
had been rottingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rot
before 900; (v.) Middle English rot ( t ) en, Old English rotian, cognate with Frisian rotsje, Dutch rotten; (noun) Middle English, perhaps < Old Norse rot (perhaps partly derivative of the v.); cf. ret, rotten)
Explanation
To rot is to decompose, or break down into smaller parts. When old food at the back of your refrigerator rots, you should throw it away. Sometimes you can tell when something is beginning to rot because it smells bad. But the process that occurs when things rot is a natural one that you can see all around you as you walk through the woods or along the beach. Living organisms have to rot after they die, to make room for more organisms.
Vocabulary lists containing rot
"When Cultures Meet"
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"Banneker" by Rita Dove
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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:
"Turn off that TV, it'll rot your brain!" has been repeated in households for generations.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
“It was going to rot on a tree again, and I said let’s give it away,” said farmer Cesar Mora.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
The number of social-media groups and threads predicated on the opinion that Bowlero/Lucky Strike absolutely sucks testifies to the number of both serious bowlers and casual enthusiasts who see the corporation as an invasive rot.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
Moral rot and vices similar to those Mr. Kessler discussed caused the empire to fall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
“So you left me to rot in Hellgate.”
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
While conventional ROT techniques typically process 10 to 20 cells per hour, the cROT system achieves an impressive throughput of 2700 cells per hour, which is more than 100 times higher.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 11, 2023
Ms. Nurse, who founded BK ROT, a youth composting service and green jobs project, was nonetheless surprised when Ms. Adams named her to head the sanitation committee.
From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2022
She points to the success of existing organizations, like BK ROT, a bicycle-powered micro-hauler and composting service staffed by young people of color.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2021
Another such small business is GreenFeen OrganiX, a worker-owned cooperative founded by lifelong Bronx resident Dior St. Hillaire, who is also a co-director of BK ROT.
From Washington Post
DRY ROT, a fungoid disease in timber which occasions the destruction of its fibres, and reduces it eventually to a mass of dry dust.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 7 "Drama" to "Dublin" by Various
“It speaks to that brain rot. One minute you’re looking at this thing and the next you’re looking at this thing. You want it to be dynamic.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2025
“Leather will wet rot. Collagen fibers in vellum will tighten and shrink.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2023
“It’s in the basement where people just rot. There is no medication,” he said.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 19, 2022
"If the rains come too early at the end of the longer rainy season our beans rot. But it's harder now to tell what will happen."
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2017
“No sense letting your brain go to rot. You know anything at all about working with wood?”
From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker
The analysts at SentimenTrader call it a “Weekend at Bernie’s” rally, “propped up almost entirely by flows into a handful of mega-cap tech and semiconductor leaders, while the broader market rots beneath the surface.”
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
The saying goes that the fish rots from the head.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 27, 2025
Soon, mounds of unsightly sargassum – carried by currents from the Sargasso Sea and linked to climate change – were carpeting the region’s prized coastlines, repelling holidaymakers with the pungent stench emitted as it rots.
From BBC ● Nov. 24, 2024
It comes with a certificate of authenticity and installation instructions for owners to replace the banana — if they wish — whenever it rots.
From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2024
The only thing we can do is cover up the smell somehow, and avoid the area until the thing rots completely.
From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King
Parts were found to have rotted away from damp and the sheets were placed between sheets of glass in a bid to preserve them.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
The structure, discovered in the village of Bulford, was a much more simple construction made up of just two wooden posts, which have long since rotted away.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Rourke alleged that the floors were rotted, there was no running water in a couple of places there should have been and the place was infested with rodents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2026
Her contorted expression is rotted by anguish, as though life’s unbearable burdens have laid waste to their latest victim.
From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2025
I’d spent most of my early life in the crumbling east end of the city, surrounded by urban decay and concrete waste where the skyline looked like a ruined mouth of rotted teeth.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
Her health concerns persisted even when smoke from the stubborn fire, which burned for more than a week, was replaced with the smells of rotting meat and other frozen foods.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
"We call it rotting out," says Fererro, now wearing a white laboratory coat as he adds handfuls of seagrass to the Calshot tank.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Hachadourian says some blooms smell like dog feces and others like rotting flesh.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Lehmkuhl said there is an urgent need to prevent additional flareups, clear debris and address the persistent odor of millions of pounds of rotting food at the site.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
The air is scented with iron, damp leather, rotting food.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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.
