corrode

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UK/kəˈɹəʊd/US/kəˈɹoʊd/US[kəˈɹoʊ̯d]US[kɚˈ(ɹ)oʊ̯d]

verb

To eat away bit by bit; to wear away or diminish by gradually separating or destroying small particles of, as by action of a strong acid or a caustic alkali.

“My morale is being corroded day by day.”

Similar
cankergnawrustwasteweareat
OriginMiddle English corrōden ← Old French corroder ← Latin corrōdere →
UncommonScrabble 10
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Meanings

verbcorrode (third-person singular simple present corrodes, present participle corroding, simple past and past participle corroded)

present singular third person corrodes · participle present corroding · participle past corroded · past corroded

  1. transitiveTo eat away bit by bit; to wear away or diminish by gradually separating or destroying small particles of, as by action of a strong acid or a caustic alkali.

    Synonyms: canker, gnaw, rust, waste, wear

  2. transitiveTo consume; to wear away; to prey upon; to impair.

    My morale is being corroded day by day.

  3. intransitiveTo have corrosive action; to be subject to corrosion.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo eat away bit by bit; to wear away or diminish by gradually separating or destroying small particles of, as by action of a strong acid or a caustic alkali.

Similar
cankergnawrustwastewear

More synonyms by meaning

verbcause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid

Similar
eatrust
Broader
damage

verbbecome destroyed by water, air, or a corrosive such as an acid

Similar
rusteat
Broader
decaycrumbledilapidate
Also see
eateat awayeroderustundermine

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latincorrōdere“to gnaw”
  2. Old Frenchcorroder
  3. Middle Englishcorrōden
  4. Englishcorrode

From Middle English corrōden, that borrowed from Old French corroder or directly from Latin corrōdere (“to gnaw”), from con- (“completely”) + rōdere (“to gnaw”).

More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic أكل, أصدأ
  • أكلto eat away
  • أصدأto eat away
  • تآكلto have corrosive action
  • صدئto have corrosive action
Bulgarian разяждам, кородирам
  • разяждам (razjaždam)to eat away
  • кородирам (korodiram)to have corrosive action
Catalan corroir, corroir
  • corroirto eat away
  • corroirto consume
  • corroirto have corrosive action
Chinese Mandarin 腐蝕 /腐蚀, 侵蝕 /侵蚀
  • 腐蝕 /腐蚀 (fǔshí)to eat away
  • 侵蝕 /侵蚀 (qīnshí)to have corrosive action
Dutch uithollen, roesten
  • uithollento eat away
  • roestento eat away
  • corroderento eat away
  • uitbijtento eat away
  • inbijtento eat away
  • aanvretento eat away
  • corroderento consume
  • corroderento have corrosive action
Esperanto korodi
  • korodito eat away
Finnish syövyttää, ruostuttaa
  • syövyttääto eat away
  • ruostuttaato eat away
  • kuluato eat away
  • kuluttaato eat away
  • syödäto eat away
  • syöpyäto have corrosive action
  • ruostuato have corrosive action
French éroder, rouiller
  • éroderto eat away
  • rouillerto eat away
  • corroderto have corrosive action
German zerfressen, korrodieren
  • zerfressento eat away
  • korrodierento have corrosive action
  • rostento have corrosive action
Greek διαβρώνω
  • διαβρώνω (diavróno)to eat away
Hebrew שיתך, איכל
  • שיתך (shitékh)to eat away
  • איכל (ikél)to eat away
Icelandic æta
  • ætato eat away
Italian corrodere
  • corrodereto eat away
Māori pūnguru
  • pūnguruto eat away
Portuguese corroer, corroer
  • corroerto eat away
  • corroerto have corrosive action
Russian разъеда́ть, разъе́сть
  • разъеда́ть (razʺjedátʹ)to eat away
  • разъе́сть (razʺjéstʹ)to eat away
  • корроди́ровать (korrodírovatʹ)to have corrosive action
  • ржаве́ть (ržavétʹ)to have corrosive action
  • заржаве́ть (zaržavétʹ)to have corrosive action
Spanish corroer, corroer
  • corroerto eat away
  • corroerto have corrosive action
Turkish aşındırmak
  • aşındırmakto eat away
Vietnamese ăn mòn
  • ăn mònto eat away

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with corrode

coderoadmodenodeepisodereloadodunicoderodeowedencodeodedecodeabodebowedunloaderodeboderecodelodetoedstrodegoadcommode
All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cordero
Cite this entry
APA

corrode. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/corrode

MLA

“corrode.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/corrode. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “corrode,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/corrode.

Source: corrode on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.