To undergo natural decomposition; fall into a course or a state of elemental dissolution; suffer loss of coherence from decay: used of organic substances which either do or do not putrefy in the process, and sometimes, by extension, of inorganic substances.To become morally corrupt; deteriorate through stagnation or indulgence; suffer loss of stamina or principle.To become morally offensive or putrid; be nauseous or repulsive; excite contempt or disgust.To become affected with the disease called rot.Synonyms Rot, Decay, Putrefy, Corrupt, Decompose. Rot is, by its age and brevity, so energetic a word that it is often considered inelegant, and decay is used as a softer word. That which rots or decays may or may not emit a foul odor, as an egg or an apple; putrefy by derivation implies such foulness of odor, and hence is especially applied to animal matter when it is desired to emphasize that characteristic result of its rotting. Corrupt is sometimes used as a strong but not offensive word for thorough spoiling, that makes a thing repulsive or loathsome. To decompose is to return to the original elements; the word is sometimes used as a euphemism for rot or putrefy. The moral uses of the first four words correspond to the physical.To cause decomposition in; subject to a process of rotting; make rotten: as, dampness rots many things; to rot flax. See ret. Sometimes used imperatively in imprecation. Compare rat, drat.To produce a rotting or putrefactive disease in; specifically, to give the rot to, as sheep or other animals. See rot, n., 2.n. The process of rotting, or the state of being rotten; also, rotted substance; matter weakened or disintegrated by rotting.n. A condition of rottenness to which certain animals and plants are liable, as the sheep and the potato (see potato), attended by more or less putrescence.n. Disgusting stuff; nauseating nonsense; unendurable trash; rant; twaddle; bosh.To ‘make fun’; fool; talk nonsense.To fail successively at batting: said of a cricket eleven.To chaff; make fun of.n. In cricket, the failure of several batsmen on a side.n. See black.n. A name of certain plant-diseases of a bacterial or fungous origin, characterized by decay and blackening of the tissues. The following are the most important: black rot of the apple, caused by Sphæropsis Malorum; black rot of the cabbage, due to Pseudomonas campestris; black rot of the grape, caused by Guignardia Bidwellii; black rot of the pear and quince, caused by Sphæropsis Malorum; black rot of the sweet-potato, caused by Ceratocystis fimbriata (also called black-shank); and black rot of the tomato, caused by Macrosporium Tomato.Humbug! Nonsense! Stuff!
