wet rot

British  

noun

1. a state of decay in timber caused by various fungi, esp Coniophora puteana. The hyphal strands of the fungus are seldom visible and affected timber turns dark brown

2. any of the fungi causing this decay

---

Example Sentences

“Leather will wet rot. Collagen fibers in vellum will tighten and shrink.”

From New York Times

Thus far my sense of sight; while dry rot and wet rot and all the silent rots that rot in neglected roof and cellar—rot of rat and mouse and bug and coaching-stables near at hand besides—addressed themselves faintly to my sense of smell, and moaned “Try Barnard’s Mixture.”

From The New Yorker

"It had been student accommodation for 30 years, so it didn't look like it does now. "We had dry rot and wet rot and we re-roofed it and then the roof was stolen.

From BBC

Thus for my sense of sight; while dry rot, and wet rot, and all the silent p. 46rots that rot in neglected root and cellar—rot of rat, and mouse, and bug, and coaching stables near at hand besides—addressed themselves faintly to my sense of smell, and moaned, ‘Try Barnard’s Mixture.’

From Project Gutenberg

Yet Rilke's poetic flavors�and the morbid scent of wet rot that rises from his life�have prevented many a poetry reader from acquiring the Rilke taste.

From Time Magazine Archive